A/N; just something i've actually been working on for a while, this chapter has been really close to being finished for a long time, I just had to go over and edit it a bit.

This doesn't mean i've forgotten about Lux, this is just something i've been working on for a while.

I know in the begining here they say that they're five, but i think the rest (remus, holly, etc.) act like they're older so, sorry about that, but i don't think it's a huge deal...

Anyways, I'd love to know what you think, thanks!

"I swear, she gets cuter every time I see her, Sarah!" A tall, blond woman gushed as she bent low to smile widely at the child at her feet. "And how old are you, Lily?"

"I'm…" Lily thought for a moment before she held up four fingers and declared, "Five!" Looking triumphant.

"I'm five too!" The boy standing next to her exclaimed- not wanting to be left out, as he too held up the incorrect amount of fingers.

"Oh wow!" The blond woman replied enthusiastically as she diverted her attention to him. "And what's your name sweetie?"

"His name's James!" The red-headed girl interjected before he could answer, causing him to stick his tongue out at her. "He's my best friend." She explained as she rolled her eyes at him and turned back to the blond woman.

"Well that's nice." She responded as she smiled warmly at them both. "How long have you known James?"

"Since yesterday!" The boy answered this time. "I moved in next door yesterday."

"Oh, really?" The woman questioned and James nodded his head. "Where are your parents, dear?"

"Over there." James said, pointing to a man and woman across the yard. The man was holding a lawn sprinkler up and examining it closely while the woman marveled at the fondue fountain that had been set up on the buffet table.

The lady straightened up and returned to talking to the red-headed woman next to her. "What's their deal?" She asked her, chuckling slightly as James's mom stuck a finger into the fondue just to retract it in shock as she discovered it was hot.

"I'm not quite sure." Sarah replied, looking amused. "They seem nice enough though. And Lily and James seem to like each other," She added as she glanced down at the little couple, "It's nice to have another kid Lily's age around."

"Yeah I bet." The woman nodded in agreement and then heaved a sigh, "Well, I'd better go see where Timothy ran off to. I'll come find you later, okay? Oh! And Happy Birthday, Sarah!" The woman congratulated as she began walking away.

"Thanks Marge!" Sarah called after her as she watched her friend go with a smile.

"Mama?" A small voice sounded from the ground as she felt a little hand tug on her pant leg.

"Yes Lily?" Sarah crouched down so she could see her daughter better.

"Can James and I have punch?" She asked as she gave her a sweet smile.

"I suppose so. Go find Petunia; she'll get you some punch." Sarah stood up and patted her daughter on the head.

"O-tay! Thanks mama!" Lily squeaked before grabbing James's hand and dashing off through the small crowd of people to find her sister.

"Tuney!" Lily yipped as she bobbed around the forest of legs, James's hand securely in hers so they didn't lose each other. "Tuney!"

"There she is!" James shouted enthusiastically and pointed his chubby hand at a blond haired girl a few feet away.

Lily quickly ran over to her and tugged on her pants to get her attention. Petunia seemed as used to his action as her mother because she immediately bent down to her sister's eye-level.

"What is it Lily?" She asked, smiling slightly at the sight of her little sister in her girly pony tails, hand-in-hand with the disheveled looking black-haired boy.

"We want punch!" Lily exclaimed, smiling sweetly.

"Can you say please?" Petunia asked, sounding like a bossy teacher.

Lily closed her mouth tight and her eyes shone with humor before she opened her mouth and whispered, "Please?"

"Well alright then." Petunia conceded as she stood up and took Lily's free hand to guide her over to the small card table they had set up with drinks. She let go of her hand and filled up two paper cups with fruit punch and carefully bent down to the two children and handed them each a drink.

"Now what do we say?" Petunia asked, looking expectantly at them.

"Punch is yummy!" James exclaimed as he took a large gulp of his punch and smacked his lips in delight.

"Nooo." Petunia said, looking stern. "What do you say when someone does something nice for you?"

"Thank you!" Lily shouted suddenly as she remembered.

"You're welcome Lily." Petunia nodded approvingly at her before turning to look at James. "What about you James? Do you have anything to say?"

James rolled his eyes and said, "I already told you the punch was yummy!"

Petunia was getting exasperated and was just about to try and explain proper manners to James in detail when something suddenly caught Lily's attention and she ran off, slopping juice all over the ground, and herself, and pulling James with her.

Petunia straightened herself back up as she watched the two kids run through the crowd before she scanned the people for her mother. She spotted her near the front of the house, standing with her father, and headed that way.

"Hey sweetie!" Her mom said once she was in speaking distance, "Did Lily and James find you? They said they wanted some punch."

"Yes I got them some punch." Petunia nodded until her attention was caught by James's father who had one of her parent's friends by the wrist. He was holding it close to his face, apparently inspecting the watch upon it. She looked up at her parents to find that they found it highly amusing and were smiling, almost fondly, at him.

"They are so strange." Petunia hissed, "And their boy is so rude, he knows nothing of proper manners!"

Sarah smiled kindly down at her oldest child, "There's nothing wrong with being a little different Tuney. And little James is only five, he has plenty of time to learn manners."

"Well I don't like them." Petunia declared as she stuck her nose in the air and folded her arms across her chest. "There's just something… off with them."

"I don't care whether you like them or not missy, you will treat them with respect, understand?" Her father leaned across her mother to glare at her as he spoke.

"Yes." Petunia said hesitantly and dropped her arms.

"Good." Her father replied, smiling.

Petunia then walked away, trying hard not to stomp her feet in agitation. Once she was out of ear-shot and sight of her parents she stopped and muttered under her breathe.

"Someday I'll find out what's wrong with those freaks."

***

"Where are we Da?" A small, black-haired girl asked as she tugged on her father's pant leg.

"Visiting some relatives, Holly. Now stand up straight, and you'd better be on your best behavior tonight, understand?" The man replied, straightening his shirt as they waited in the dimly lit hallway for someone to come get them. The girl nodded and copied her dad's posture.

After a couple of seconds a woman walked up from a set of stairs to the left. She was very tall and willowy and had an aura of darkness around her, causing Holly to flinch slightly, tempted to hide behind her father's legs. Years of dealing with her parent's frustration made her able to squash the impulse though, knowing that she would get in trouble for it later.

"Hello Josephine, Henry." The woman greeted them stiffly as she eyed them warily, almost as if she distrusted them in her house.

"Nice to see you again, Walburga." Holly's father greeted as her mother smiled coldly at her.

"Do follow me to the dining room, dinner will be served shortly." Walburga promptly turned on her heel and began to float eerily down the stairs. Holly followed behind her parents and looked on at all she saw in a horrified kind of wonder. Holly's house was full of somewhat questionable family heirlooms, but it wasn't anything like this. This house seemed to be made out of nothing but very illegal, very dark artifacts.

When they entered the dining room, they were greeted by the other guests, who were scattered in small groups about the room. Holly's parents immediately went to making conversation with all of the most important people and managed to ignore her for the majority of the evening.

Holly grew bored within the first ten minutes but she couldn't forget that she'd promised her father she'd be good. So she followed them around obediently, drinking glasses of cider her mother kept shoving in her face to keep her occupied. After five glasses she had to go to the bathroom, but it was only after eight that she said anything.

"Ma!" She cried trying to get her mother's attention. "MA!"

"What! What do you want?" Her mother snarled as she reluctantly broke away from her conversation to glare down at her daughter.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Holly nearly whispered, feeling her face grow red in embarrassment since her mother's outburst had gained the attention of the entire group.

"Well then go!" She exclaimed in exasperation as she waved her off dismissively and returned to the people around her. Not wanting to upset her mother anymore, Holly quickly made her way across the room and into a dark hallway. She glanced from side to side before deciding to turn left and quickly taking off down the hall.

The farther she walked, the more she felt like she was getting lost; the hall twisted and turned and she didn't remember how many times she had come to a dead end. She wrung her hands nervously as she stopped under a wall adorned with house elves heads. There was a loud crash to the right of her, and she jumped nearly a foot in the air as she stared wide eyed down the endless hallway. She heard heavy footsteps, like someone was running, and she began to panic. She felt frozen, glued to her spot on the carpet as she stared down the hall. A person's silhouette came into view and before she knew it someone had jumped on top of her and pinned her to the ground.

"Avast ye unruly wench!" The person shouted in a strange accent.

"Wh-what?!" Holly nearly screamed as she tried to wiggle around to see who was on top of her. They didn't feel very big so it was probably just another child.

"What're ye doin' along this path? I should make ye walk the plank!" The stranger yelled as they flipped her over so she was on her back.

"What are you talking about?!" Holly cried as she looked up into her attackers face. It was a boy, probably about her age, wearing some kind of strange hat made of paper and a patch over his left eye. The boy sighed dramatically and rolled off of her.

"I'm a pirate, geez! You don't get out much, do you?" The boy questioned as he sat up and looked at her.

"What's a… pirate?" Holly asked as she scooted farther away from the boy, just in case he decided to jump her again.

"They're the terrors of the sea! The swashbuckling, town plundering, treasure hunting terrors of the sea!" The boy exclaimed excitedly.

"Well I've never heard of them." The girl challenged as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"That's because it's a muggle thing." The boy said simply as he shrugged his shoulders.

"How do you know about muggle things?" Holly asked, dropping her defensive stance and tilting her head in intrigue.

"There's this muggle boy who lives a few houses down, and sometimes I sneak out of the house to play with him. He told me about pirates and gave me a book about them." The boy explained.

"Doesn't that upset your parents?" Holly inquired as she thought about what her parents would do if they found out she talked to muggles.

"That's the point!" The boy exclaimed as he threw his hands into the air in a care-free way.

Holly felt something warm engulf her at that moment as the greatest epiphany she'd ever had came crashing down on her: she wanted him. She wanted every piece of him that she suddenly ached in the most terrible, heart wrenching way. She wanted to disregard her parents and run through the halls of her house like a mad person. She wanted to not care if they got angry and locked her in her room all day. She wanted to live to defy everything that her parents believed in.

Her eyes widened in confusion as she grabbed at her chest, feeling constricted and finding it hard to breathe all of a sudden. She knew that the boy was probably trying to ask her if she was okay since he was bent over her, looking concerned, but she couldn't find any words that she wanted to use at the moment. She was too caught up in how perfect he was.

She had never met another person like him before but she knew, without any doubt, that he's what she wanted. And she didn't even know his name.

***

"Are you excited for your first trip to Diagon Alley, Remus?" A short, mousy haired woman asked as she raised her wand to tap the bricks in front of her.

"I sure am!" The small boy replied as he gripped his mother's hand tighter in anticipation.

The small room abruptly flashed a brilliant white and slowly faded away as the brick wall in front of them folded out of the way to reveal a colorful street filled with tons of witches and wizards. Remus gasped audibly and stared in awe at the sight before him. His mother smiled warmly down at him before gently tugging at his hand to get him to move.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Remus shouted as he shook free from his mother's hold and ran up to the nearest store window to gaze inside. Various caldrons were bubbling with potions and a boy, a few years older than him, was scooping one of the concoctions up in a vial.

He heard a chuckle behind him and spun around to see his mother. He smiled apologetically back at her and took her hand again so they could start down the street.

After his mother had visited Gringotts and bought a few supplies they came to a clothing store. Not wanting to watch his mother shop for robes he told her he'd wait right outside. She was hesitant but ended up letting him as long as he promised not to go too far from the store front.

As Remus was waiting he noticed a stall across the street from the robe shop, selling what looked like marbles, and walked over. As Remus drew closer he realized that it wasn't marbles, but beautiful rocks that swirled with different colors. He looked up at the stall owner to see he was busy with a sale before tentatively picking up a blue one and watching the colors swirl like gases.

He became so absorbed in the intricate patterns made in the gas-like substance that he didn't even notice when someone came running right toward him. They slammed into his side and sent the rock flying out of his hand and through the air as he fell hard on his face, his glasses taking most of the damage, as he heard them crack on impact.

He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut in pain before slowly getting back up and looking around to find a girl standing beside him with her hands on her hips, and a smirk on her face.

"What happened?" He asked the girl embarrassedly, as he quickly tried to brush himself off.

"I pushed you!" The girl declared, almost triumphantly.

"What?!" Remus shouted, as his head snapped up to look at her smug face. "Why would you do that?"

"Because," The girl drew out the word for an unnecessary amount of time, "I think you're cute." She finished, winking at him.

Remus stared at her with his mouth hanging open before he regained his composure. "That makes absolutely no sense!" He proclaimed as she continued to smirk at him.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I broke your glasses!" She stated as she drew a wand out of her back pocket.

"Where did you get that?!" Remus demanded as he recoiled from her.

"Stole it from my mom." The girl replied, winking at him again as she pointed it right at his face. Before Remus could do anything the girl cried, "Oculus Reparo!"

Remus closed his eyes tightly, expecting to feel excruciating pain any second, but just heard the laughter of the strange girl before him. He slowly opened his eyes to see her laughing mercilessly at him. What an odd person. Remus had never met anyone quite like her. Curious, he brought his hands to his face and took off his glasses to examine them. They were fixed perfectly.

Did she really fix my glasses? Remus thought to himself as he stared at them in amazement. She can't be much older than me, and I can't do that kind of magic…

Without warning, the girl slugged him on the shoulder and began to run off. Remus started forward and then shouted, "Wait!" The girl stopped and tilted her head slightly as she looked back at him, "What's your name?"

She threw back her head in laughter before shouting, "Tahlia!" And running away.

"Tahlia." Remus whispered as he watched her leave.

***

"Sirius." Holly repeated as she asked her mother for his name.

***

"James!" Lily shouted in anger as he shoved cake into her face.