DISCLAIMER: ALL PUBLICLY RECOGNIZED CHARACTERS, SETTINGS, ETC. ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS AND PLOT ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR. THE AUTHOR IS IN NO WAY ASSOCIATED WITH THE OWNERS, CREATORS, OR PRODUCERS OF ANY MEDIA FRANCHISE. NO COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT IS INTENDED.

Sister,

I regret to inform you that you are invited to my wedding. In all honesty, I would rather have committed sin than invite you to see me get married, however mother threatened to murder me if I didn't send an invitation. She said something about getting to bond with you before I leave forever. I guess our dear mother has never understood that I don't like you. In fact, if it were up to me you wouldn't even be allowed to attend within a ten mile radius. But at this point, I have no choice but to comply with mother's wishes. She paid for my wedding dress so I have a debt to repay. I don't want you getting the impression that I missed you or anything.

The wedding is in four months. I would've given you the invitation at a later date but I'd rather just get it over with right now. After all, there is no point walking into a freezing pool slowly. You need to jump in and get out as quickly as you can so you don't dwell on the matter for long. For me, inviting you is like jumping into a freezing pool. I want you to show up in a presentable manner. Pin back that awful red hair of yours and wear something appropriate. You need to bring a date with you as well. I don't care who you pick as long as he shows up with some sort of style and charisma. If you can't find anyone you like, I'll arrange you to go with one of Vernon's cousins. But do not make a great ordeal for me like you normally do. I don't want to be swallowing down chagrin on my wedding day.

Whatever you do, don't respond to this letter. I've had up to my high ends with these bloody owls. It's not normal the way they deliver mail. I have it hard as it is during the summer when you come home and write letters to your pathetic little friends. I'd rather not deal with owls or any type of birds for the rest of my life. Thankfully, I can be happy this summer because by the time you come home for the holidays, I will be long gone. Vernon and I will be happily married and moving into a very expensive house in a neighborhood far away from you. Your abnormality will be a thing of the past. But until then, I must continue to pretend like you don't exist. Make it easier for me and don't contact me in any forms of communication. Don't even write to mum and dad. Unlike them, I don't look forward to your letters. I pray that four months will go by a lot faster than I hope.

- Petunia Evans

This was the reason that Lily Evans had abruptly gotten up from the Great Hall and stormed away with her friends staring after her. Her heart, although very strong and caring, had a vital soft spot for Petunia. No matter what her sister said or did to her she never stopped caring. That was exactly why minutes before she opened the letter she grew excited that Petunia had written to her. She could even wager that her heart turned into an inflated balloon.

But after reading what was written, that balloon got punctured and tears were threatening to pool out of her eyes. She could not face her friends and continue eating dinner, pretending that nothing had happened after a stab like that. So her arm snapped up to dry her eyes and she rounded the corners of the castle, not very concerned with where she was going.

Unintentionally, she got to a corridor and walked in on the Marauders laughing hysterically at some joke while holding onto bottles of butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks. A separate part of her mind wondered how on earth they were able to sneak in goods from Hogsmeade into the castle so easily. It was very risky and frankly, easily punishable. If any prefect or teacher had caught them, they'd be in for a week of detention. Sweets from Hogsmeade were only allowed during their visits. The next Hogsmeade weekend wasn't due for another four weeks. She could use her power as a prefect to punish them and take away their fun, but she wasn't that cruel.

At the moment, crying was the only thing at the top of her mind. Not prefect duties. She wanted the comfort of her warm Gryffindor scarf and the cool outdoor air. Staying inside the castle was making her feel stuffy and uncomfortable. And then seeing James Potter and his friends laughing was only mocking her pain.

Unfortunately for her she had to walk by them to get outside. Lily pushed her red locks over her shoulder to cover her face as she briskly walked across the corridor.

Don't notice me she prayed in her head and repeatedly thought it like a mantra. To her avail, her prayer was not acknowledged and they did notice her. "Aren't you supposed to be at dinner, Evans?" asked James as she came into view. Her breath stopped in her throat, and she stared down at her shoes like a child being caught in some mischief. A tear had already streamed down her cheek and dripped to the floor, but her curtain of hair blocked him from seeing it.

Lily cleared her throat and said, "You know I could say the same for you."

James threw her a calculating gaze as Remus, Sirius, and Peter turned their grins into small smiles. After several seconds he said, "Something's different. Why aren't you giving us detention or ranting on about school rules. May I recall last time you said and I quote, 'Really Potter? A stink bomb in a Slytherin's drink? May I say how tacky and unoriginal that is? Not to mention it is highly unamusing considering your victim had to go down to the hospital wing. You know, someday this kind of tom foolery will get you expelled from this school. But until then, ten points from Gryffindor and report to Professor McGonagall for two weeks' worth of detention'

Sirius and Peter burst out laughing whereas Remus turned his smile into a frown. She was good friends with him (as he was the other Gryffindor prefect) and he was able to tell that she was upset judging by the way she was hiding her face. But Lily couldn't even look at Remus because all the horrible things that Petunia had said in the letter were still running through her mind. The letter, at that moment, was being loosely held between her fingers.

"You can have a break this time Potter," she said, refusing to move her hair from her face. "It's kind of useless to give you detention seeing as you'll only do it again. I-I'll be going now." More tears were falling, and it was all she could do to keep her voice from shaking with sobs. Lily just wanted to be alone for a while. Her head needed some clearing up and the tears that were building up in her eyes needed to be released. Just as she was about to leave, James's hand encircled her arm "Are you alright?"

His voice was very sincere with actual concern laced into it. She could tell that this was not one of his normal infuriating pranks. Lily paused. When did James Potter ever get so caring? James took her hesitance as an advantage to come closer. From the corner of her gaze she caught an unexpected gleam in his eyes. He looked at her as if the very thought of her sadness was heartbreaking. She was shocked to see this new side of emotion in James but also grew very touched that he legitimately cared about her. His dark brown eyes were shining under the light of the lamps but the emotion and glow behind it had nothing to do with the lighting. They reflected pain and anger, as if the idea of someone emotionally or physically hurting her would drive him to the point of hysteria. A weak smile touched his lips in a gesturing manner as his eyes flashed a look that made her weak in the knees. If she didn't know better, she would've thought he loved her.

It was actually a very tempting offer to just run into his arms and bawl her eyes out. But then their five (almost six) year animosity got in the way and instead of speaking her thoughts she replied, "I'll be fine," and tugged her arm away from his grip.

Her strides lengthened as she walked as quickly as she possibly could into the cool September air. For a moment, Lily looked at the moon that had already risen into the night sky, basking in its glory; and then she sprinted to the lake nearby the school.

As she left, James gave her one last lingering look before turning back to his friends. "She's not alright is she?"

"Gee Prongs," said Remus with sarcasm dripping his tone, "You are truly an expert when it comes to the female species."

James rolled his eyes at Remus and asked, "What could've made her so upset?"

Neither Peter, nor Sirius had an answer, although Sirius did clasp a hand down on his shoulder and solemnly said, "It's probably her monthly," before grinning and then bursting out into laughter. James laughed along with him, but he kept wondering what it was that put her at the brink of despair. As his eyes wandered around the corridor, he caught a slightly crumpled up piece of paper on the ground.

James picked it up and turned it over. Sister, it read at the very top.

"It's a letter," he said to Sirius, Remus, and Peter. James' eyes skimmed the letter quickly and as he reached the very end of it, a winter cold glare shaped his face. This letter, without a doubt, belonged to Lily. The person who wrote their name on the bottom had the same surname, Evans. Judging by what it said this was her sister writing to her. "No wonder Evans was so out of it," he exclaimed while Remus took the letter from his hands, "After reading a letter like that who wouldn't be pissed?"

"What did it say?" asked Peter.

"Her sister's getting married," James answered with an exasperated sigh, "the letter was an invitation, but her sister's regrettably informing her that she's invited. I think she'd rather swallow a hippogriff whole than have Lily attend. And then there was some other shit about magic being-"

"An abnormality," Moony finished for him as his eyes trailed to the end of the page. "Lily's pretty vocal about her parents, but she never really talks about her sister. I think that's a sore subject for her."

Peter set down his butterbeer and said, "Well I guess I can see why. Blimey, and I thought you were the only one with family problems Sirius."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Shut up Pete." But there was a small smile on his face. James got up and abandoned his butterbeer. "I'm going to go check on her."

"Are you crazy mate?" asked Sirius as he began to leave. "You two are sworn enemies. You'd have a better chance hexing Dumbledore than getting Lily Evans to talk to you."

"She won't talk to James," he agreed with a nod, "but perhaps she'll talk to Prongs." He started running towards the entrance of the castle.

"Why do you care!?" Sirius shouted just as he was at the door. James paused for a moment and turned around. "I dunno really." But after the words left his mouth, he ran after Lily.

Lily found her special tree. The tree that she did everything at; studies, diary entries, laughing with her friends, and this was the place she came to when she was upset. For a moment she traced the L E that she had carved onto the trunk with her wand a few years back and then she laid her back against the wood. Sobs burst through her throat, carrying the sound throughout the wide open space. A breeze carried over rippling the water and brought on a slight shiver. She tugged her scarf closer to her neck and slumped down against the trunk with more tears in her eyes.

"Stupid Tuney! Stupid Vernon! Stupid Letter! Stupid Wedding!" She was just about to say, "Stupid James," when the leaves rustled behind. Wiping her eyes, Lily turned around to find a brilliant stag stepping out from the forest. For a moment, the stag looked at her as if it was hurt to see her depressed, and then it walked closer and nudged the top of her head with its nose. She felt stupid just sitting there while an animal was nudging her. Maybe he's hungry she thought and then checked her robes for food. In one of the pockets a packet of muggle trail mix was in there.

Do deers eat this? No matter, I'll give it a try.

"If you're hungry, I have something you might like," she said opening the packet. The many different smells of the assorted snack hit her nose briefly before she turned towards the stag, "You know normally I'd eat it and share it with you but I lost my appetite. So here." Her hand raised up close to the stag's mouth in a gesture to start eating. The deer looked at her for a moment and then dipped his head into the bag. She heard quiet munching and smiled an extremely tiny smile At least someone's got to be happy tonight.

It didn't take long for the stag to finish eating and then as a sign of gratitude, he laid his head down on her lap. She was slightly startled by this action, but actually found that she liked the company, despite wanting to be alone before.

As she thought of previously wanting to be alone she remembered why she felt this way in the first place and her tears came back. The stag sensed her sadness and leaned its head upwards to look at her. She had no desire to stifle her sobs and then did something that surprised the stag and herself. She buried her face into his fur and started weeping against him. For a moment, the animal stood completely still and then it moved a bit more so she could have better access. Now his entire body was stretched across both of her thighs and her head was buried into his back. Lily welcomed the action and cried for several minutes before her sobs began to quiet down. And when they finally did, the need to voice her grievances overcame her. She started to talk, "My sister and I were best friends when we were children. We used to do everything together and I….. well, I looked up to her." She was only mildly aware that she was narrating her life story to a stag, "and then Se-Se-Severus came in-into my l-life and he introduced me to this new world."

Lily took another breath to steady herself and then spoke again, "Everything he described was magical. Like something that was pulled out of one of my storybooks. I fell in love with the wizarding world before I even saw it and when I came here, I fell in love even more. But then that drove a wedge between me and Petunia. She branded me a freak and went at great lengths to make sure I wasn't involved in her life. It's like she forgot everything we used to have. She was my best friend before Severus. We used to have nicknames. She would call me Lils and I would call her Tuney but now she won't even say my name out loud. Even in that damn letter she couldn't even write Dear Lily."

She stopped her ranting for a moment and looked down at the stag. His ears were perked and it was almost as if he was actually listening to all her problems. Lily sighed, "I don't know why I'm doing this. You can hear me, but you can't actually comprehend what I'm saying. But you are the only one I can talk to about this stuff. My friends would try to make me feel better, but they'll never understand. I can't tell mum and dad because upsetting them while they're planning a wedding would not be fair. If Remus ever found out he might end up telling James and you know how that would go. I don't think I'd hear the end of it. Oi Padfoot! Look! It's Lily Evans! The girl who's so messed up her own sister won't even acknowledge her existence!

At this the stag actually looked a little angry. Nevertheless, it didn't move from her lap. But Lily didn't need to cry anymore. She had gotten it all out of her system. Gently pushing the deer off, she stood up and brushed some of the dirt off her robes. The deer watched her intently as she fixed her robes and picked up the empty packet of trail mix. She turned to face the animal and then sincerely smiled, "Thank you for listening. I know I sound absolutely stupid talking to you like this, and you can't possibly understand me, but thanks anyways. It almost seemed like you cared when you let me cry on your back and believe it or not, I do feel better now."

She left the lake and walked back to the castle. A breeze carried through lifting up the tendrils of her hair as she neared the castle's large wooden doors. The entire conversation she had with the stag replayed in her mind as the doors swung open. Lily had to pause and legitimately wonder why she revealed so much of her life to an animal when she had such a hard time talking about this stuff with people.

It's because he couldn't understand what I was saying she concluded after a minute and found it to be the right conclusion. After all, people are extremely judgmental about things and have no problem voicing their opinions. But animals don't speak their thoughts. They listen. It was nice to be able to talk to something that would just listen.

In her opinion, the stag looked very strong and noble. He wasn't like any normal deer. She knew that if she saw him again she'd definitely be able to recognize him. Lily wasn't exactly sure what it was that made her so confident in being able to identify the deer. It could've been the power that radiated from his stride or maybe it was the gleam in his eye. The gleam in his eye she thought it was truly very beautiful. It nearly made her heart stop when she thought about it. The deer's eyes were alluring pools of brown that reflected many emotions as she sobbed out her problems. It was almost human, the way anger and sadness reflected over the glassy orbs of hazel that surrounded his pupils.

But a nagging little feeling in her gut was telling her that she had seen those eyes before. More importantly, she felt deep down that she watched the same reflection of emotion in those eyes and did not notice them until now. Could it have been someone she knew or was she merely being imaginative?

Yes, that's it. I'm imagining. But I do hope I see that stag again she thought as she walked down the dimly lit hall and towards the Gryffindor Common Room. She was far from feeling perfect, but at least she was pacified for the time being and that seemed to be enough. As Lily made it into the girl's dormitory and slipped under the covers of her four poster bed, a very queer thought slipped into her head.

It may have only been her imagination but she could've sworn she had seen those hazel eyes twice in one day. One does not forgot being looked at with that much emotion so easily. But no matter how hard she tried, her memory seemed to fail her. At last she sighed and tugged the covers over her head. "Why am I trying to make a human out of a deer," she murmured to herself "I'm going mad." After all, it wasn't as if the deer actually understood her.

Yeah I started a new story. But don't go getting the wrong impression that I won't be updating the Hermione and Ron story that I've been working on. No worries people, it will happen. An update will come. I just need some new ideas.

Aaaaannnnndd I'm using improper grammar but at the moment I don't care :P. So tell me what you guys thought about it.

Did you like it?

Love it?

Hate it?

Was it just half and half?

Well don't leave me guessing! Let me know :) by commenting, following, favoriting, etc.

And I want you all to know my lovely editor for this chapter who has an account on . She writes amazingly and she is an awesome person. YOU MUST CHECK HER OUT :).

Her username is MindlessMazes and she's really cool and if you were awesome you'd totally check her out.

Okay so until next time…..be good and don't drink hot coffee. You only make that mistake once.