Sitting at the end of her bed, pulling at the loose threads of her quilt, Lily realised she had never before felt quite so alone. Her friendship with Severus was irrevocably damaged. The marauders had all been indisputably avoiding her after the show down at the lake. The girls from the dorm, Marlene and Mary, had tried to be sympathetic, but she felt unreasonably bristled by their pitying glances, and their polite refusal to say 'I told you so' to the humiliating annihilation of her friendship with Sev.

And worst of all, it was time to return home. Summer had arrived, a welcome relief to many that signalled the end of OWLS, and the beginning of several weeks of freedom. But to Lily, the summer was most unwelcome. It was strange to think that home had become such a foreboding place. But with the death of her mother earlier this year, and the deep depression that her father had nurtured in her mother's absence, as well as the crumbled ruins of her relationship with Tuney, home felt like a shrine to loss, and to pain. Not to mention that this would be her first summer without Sev. She wondered what he was doing now. Was he sitting at home, pining for her and their lost friendship? Lily doubted it very much. After all, what value would an aspiring death eater place upon the friendship of a mudblood?

She dragged herself up off the bed, and walked over to her desk, where her owl Merlin sat in his cage, hooting softly for affection. Lily both laughed and cringed at the name now, but Merlin was bought for her when she was 11, on her first trip to Diagon Alley, and so had been named as a gesture of appreciation to the world she was about to enter. With Sev's departure from her life, Merlin the owl was now her longest standing friend from the magical world, she supposed.

She sat down at the desk, picking up her previously abandoned quill. She knew she should write to her friends, reach out and check up. And yet, it was difficult to know how to break the ice, who to reach out to first. She decided on Remus. While he was unlikely to be her biggest fan right now, she knew that Remus would nevertheless try to put her at ease. Not only that, but he was a Marauder, he was guaranteed to have a story or two that could cheer her up.

Dear Remus,

I hope you are having a good summer so far. Have you been up to much? I have just started reading the NEWT Defense against the Dark Arts book, which was perhaps a little premature considering we've not had the OWL results yet, but it had turned out to be a fairly interesting book so far! I hope that's a good sign for the content of the course! I wonder who will be our teacher next year? All bets are on!

I'm having a very dull summer so far. My family are hiding away, so I'm feeling deprived in human interaction! If you're free at all, it would be lovely to see you. Perhaps we could take a trip to Diagon Alley, or even muggle London?

Lily wondered if this would be a good time to mention Potter. Perhaps she should ask if Remus how Potter was doing? Or would that be strange? Her and Potter had certainly never been close, and yet she felt compelled to find a way to repair the damage of last year, to take back her harsh words from the lake. Perhaps she should just let the dust settle.

I'm missing you and Hogwarts both very much. I hope the moon treats you gently next week, I'll be thinking of you.

Love,

Lily x

She attached the letter to Merlin's leg, and then suddenly stopped. "Hold on a sec" she instructed the owl, then hopped up and disappeared out of the room. Maybe five minutes later she reappeared, holding a bar of honeycomb chocolate. "Now Merlin", Lily said. "I know this is going to be a little heavy for you, but it's Remus' favourite, and it's only available in muggle shops so I'm going to need you to carry it to him, alright?". She lay the chocolate bar flat against the letter and conjured a long red ribbon which she used to tie them together. "There you are, ready to go. Fly safe". And with that, the owl took off.

It was a couple of days before Lily heard back from Remus. It was 10am on Thursday morning, and Lily was sat having breakfast with her family, when Merlin swooped in through the open kitchen window. "G'mornin owl" grunted her Father through a mouthful of toast. Petunia, meanwhile, was far less composed about the arrival of the bird at the breakfast table. "For heavens sake, Lily, do you really have to be so obnoxious about everything!?" she shrieked. "Can't we just have a normal breakfast like normal people without you making a scene of the most basic things!? The postman is due in half an hour, did you really have to use an owl". Lily rolled her eyes. "Look Tuney.." she started. "Oh don't bother Lily, I don't want to hear about your freak habits!" and with that, she flounced away.

Lily glanced nervously at her Father, wondering how he would react to the ongoing feud. But he merely continued to eat his toast, unfazed by the bickering of his daughters. Lily took Remus' letter from the owl's leg, opening it carefully.

Dear Lils,

Thanks so much for the chocolate, I love that one! Had to wrestle it from Pete though, he was here when your letter arrived and has a sweet tooth that could rival mine! I'm going to save it for the day after the full moon, it'll make a great pick me up.

Sorry to hear your summer is disappointing so far, but fear not, the Marauders are always well equipped with a plan. This Saturday, the four of us have an adventure planned, and it has been agreed that you are most welcome to be an honorary Marauder for the day, since your letter sounded like you are quite in need of a little mischief.

Let me know if that sounds like something you fancy, and if so then get the Knight bus to mine Saturday morning, the adventure starts there! No worries if not though Lils, we can do something next week, either before or after the full moon!

Missing you, I hope you're okay. I know this summer will be a tough one for you what with your mum and everything, but we're all here if you ever need anything.

Love Remus

Lily read Remus' letter over several times, trying to decide how she would respond. Lily and Remus had always been close, particularly since she discovered his secret at the end of third year, and Remus had always been a great friend, loyal and considerate. The warmth and supportiveness of the letter was therefore unsurprising. However, what was surprising was the involvement of the other Marauder's in Remus' plans to cheer her up. Her and Peter had always got on well enough, and even Sirius had won her round with his easy charm and quick wit. But her relationship with Potter was a different matter. She could admit that he was funny, that he was charming and intelligent. But he was also arrogant, petty, and unaware of his own privilege, and it was these qualities that constantly ignited their battles. The Marauders could all be as bad as one another at times, but it was easier to justify the behaviour of the others. Lily found James difficult to tolerate, and it showed, and so she was left wondering why she was being invited to join them on their trip out.

Perhaps, she thought, James felt guilty about what happened at the lake too. Maybe it wasn't just her that wanted things to be better. Their relationship had always been heated, but the day at the lake had been different somehow. Irritating each other was habitual but hurting each other was an unfamiliar territory. Perhaps this was intended to draw a line under things.

Lily walked up to her room with the letter in her hand, leaving Merlin to beg her father for scraps of toast. She sat down at the desk, and thought about how to respond. She wanted to go, but the plan felt intimidating, and she wasn't sure she was ready to face all four marauders at once.

Dear Remus,

Thank you very much for the invite.

I'll see you Saturday.

Love Lily x

She picked up the letter and headed downstairs, where she was surprised, and a little disgusted, to see her father was feeding Merlin raw bacon. Disrupting their bonding session, she tied the letter to Merlin's leg before she could change her mind, and off he flew.