CHAPTER 1: THE SIXTH SUMMER

Sunshine filtered in through the windows of Lily Evans' bedroom on that warm August morning, in which she lay in peaceful slumber along with Hestia Jones and Marlene McKinnon. They had fallen asleep after a boozy night of Lily's favourite Muggle alcohol – tequila shots – and much girly gossip. The sunlight danced over the three girls – hair splayed out across the pillows: golden, mahogany and auburn.

Lily as usual was the first to awaken, and she sat up and took in her surroundings. Her room was a mess, empty glasses and magazines and chocolate wrappers were strewn over the floor along with Marls and Tia's clothing which was still piled up in the corners of Lily's room since they had returned from France. Lily leaned back against her pillows as she allowed herself a happy moment of reminiscing the past few weeks she had spent at Marlene's holiday home (mansion would be a more appropriate word) in the south of France. They had spent every day on the beach or by the pool sunning themselves and every evening travelling around the few quaint wizarding villages that were scattered around. It had really been the holiday of a lifetime – no cares or worries or exams to think about. Naturally, Marls had spent the holiday pining after Remus Lupin who had finally plucked up the courage and asked her out towards the end of their Sixth Year at Hogwarts, but this didn't stop her from having the most incredible time with Lily and Tia. If anything she was even happier, with that inner glow and contentment that only those in love seemed to have.

Lily looked fondly upon the two girls who slept soundlessly next to her – she considered with a pang that they were more her sisters than Petunia had ever been. Petunia had fled the Evans' household the very day that Lily had returned home from Hogwarts and headed to her boyfriend Vernon's place and Lily had seen very little of her since. Lily tried not to despair over the fact that their sibling relationship seemed to be broken beyond repair now – she sighed at the thought but her mood perked up when she remembered what day it was.

"Oh my god Marls! Tia! Wake up!"

"Go away Evans." Tia mumbled sleepily while Marlene made no movements at all.

Lil groaned and began to shake the girls in an attempt to rouse them. "Get up you guys we need to start getting ready, the boys will be here soon!"

"Aww does Princess Lily want to get pretty for Prince Jamesie?" Tia mocked poking Lily jovially from under the covers as she burrowed down deeper in an attempt to avoid Lily.

"Don't make me hex you Jones!" Lily warned springing out of bed and throwing open the curtains so sunshine streamed into the room. Lily blushed a little as she thought about James. James Potter had been the first boy who had gotten her little eleven year heart beating in frenzy and palms sweating. He had also however, been the first boy to make her blood boil as he relentlessly pursued her and made sure she never had a moment of peace. The past year however, he seemed to have matured and cleaned up his act and the two had grown close. James was always there to help Lily study, carry her books, dance with her at all the parties, make her laugh, take her on sneaky trips to the kitchens and cheer her up whenever she was feeling down. He had become something close to her best friend and she found herself craving his company more and more. It was a different kind of friendship than the one she had shared with Severus – it was easy, and fun but also something a little more than friendship. Lily could no longer deny the fact that she was hopelessly attracted to James, he was well over six foot now and no longer the scrawny child who used to spill pumpkin juice over her shirt at breakfast in the Great Hall. Years of Quidditch training had made him lean and muscular. Lily always marvelled at how well structured and chiselled his face was with his strong jaw line – he always seemed to be tanned, even in winter and his beautiful hazel eyes lit up every time he smiled. She tried not to think about the lack of letters from him this summer which was in stark contrast to previous summers when he would write to her several times regardless of whether she replied or not.

"Do you think James has a new girlfriend or something?" Lily blurted out.

"What?!" Marls and Tia said simultaneously.

"He hasn't written me all summer…" Lily bit her lip nervously, and then shrieked as Marls and Tia pounced on her and dragged her back into the bed and smothered her with the blankets and pillows.

"Lily Marie Evans, you know James has only got eyes for you!" Tia said as Lily hit her around her head with the pillow.

"And once he sees you today all dressed up, he is going to lose his shit!" Marlene giggled.

"It's nice to see you care though!"

"I do not!" Lily muttered indignantly, hot in the face.

"Oh really, so is that why he's going to be your escort to the Longbottom wedding?"

"He's not! We're all going together!" Lily argued fiercely, in reference to the friendship group they had developed which consisted of herself, Tia, Marlene, Remus, Sirius and James.

"Pfffttt. I'm going with Remus, Tia will obviously hook up with Sirius," Marls rolled her eyes at Tia who aimed a pillow at her, "so that leaves you and James."


After much more giggling and pillow fighting the girls finally were dragged out of bed by Lily and assisted in helping her clean her room aided by magic until it was spotless. They decided to go down and have breakfast with Lily's parents in the kitchen following the delicious smell of pancakes which had wafted up through the floorboards.

Lily was the first to enter the kitchen and was greeted much to her surprise by the familiar shout of, "Red!" and was engulfed in a bear hug by none other than Sirius Black.

"Black! What are you doing in my kitchen?" Lily laughed.

"Eating breakfast with your gorgeous mother of course!" he grinned and behind him Rose Evans blushed. Lily rolled her eyes at her mother and took a seat at the table as she watched Sirius hug Marlene and whisper something in Tia's ear which caused her to giggle and swat him on the arm.

"So really, what are you doing here? We're not supposed to be meeting until later," Marlene said as she dug into her breakfast.

"Moony and Prongs are coming down later, I came up earlier to scope the place out."

"Scope it out?" Lily said curiously.

"Oh, just precaution." Sirius muttered hastily without looking her in the eyes and engaged in conversation with Mrs Evans instead.

Mr Evans joined them for breakfast a few moments later and they all settled down to enjoy the wonderful spread that Mrs Evans had cooked up. They had a lovely time catching up and exchanging summer stories and talking about the exciting day they were to have. They had all been invited to the wedding of Frank Longbottom and Alice Prewett. Frank and Alice had been in the year above them at Hogwarts and all very close to them as they were fellow Gryffindors. They had graduated just in the last few months and were already on the fast track Auror Programme, and in a spur of the moment engagement had decided to tie the knot. Lily supposed that it was all down to them being Aurors and all the dark things happening in the wizarding world that had motivated the marriage but she couldn't help but be overjoyed for them – no two people deserved more to be happy. Eventually they all got up and helped Mrs Evans clear the kitchen and Sirius retreated to the living room to watch the television – something which he was fascinated by – and the girls headed upstairs to get ready.

"James Potter." Sirius spoke into the small mirror in his hand and almost instantly his reflection morphed into the face of his grinning best friend who looked up at him.

"Padfoot! How's my Lils?"

"Excellent. Looking radiant as ever I must say, are you sure we can't share?"

"Do you want to die Padfoot?"

"Not particularly."

"Why aren't you with the girls?"

"They locked me out, said I couldn't come up with them." Sirius muttered bitterly, "I'm really bored now, can you guys make your way over?"

"I don't know, me and Moony are really enjoying the peace and quiet of the house without you."

"You know Prongs, Lily was half-naked at breakfast, and she was wearing these really tiny pyjama shorts and this vest…"

"I'm on my way."

James' face vanished from the mirror and Sirius assumed he was Apparating and sure enough the doorbell for the Evans' home went off. Sirius pulled the door open to let his two best friends in – James crossed the threshold beaming and looking around eager to take in the place that Lily had grown up in. The Evans' home was light, airy and spacious with panelled walls and high ceilings and sunlight streaming in through the French windows. The walls were adorned with family photographs and fresh flowers were dotted around the place – mainly lilies, petunias and roses. The floor was covered with thick carpeting and beautifully embroidered curtains hung from the windows. Every single surface that James' eyes fell upon was spotless and nothing was out of place – he got the impression that Mrs Evans was a rather house proud woman and he smiled as he thought that must be where Lily had learnt to be freakishly clean from.

"Paddy, having fun there?" Remus grinned as they followed him into the living room which was another beautifully decorated room with plush sofas and fluffy rugs and velvet cushions.

"Time of my life, Moony. Tell me again why Dumbledore chose me to scope the place out."

"Because he trusts you. And he knew Jamesie would probably be too distracted with staring at Lily like a gormless idiot to be of any use."

"I resent that Moony. He didn't choose you because you'd be too busy snogging Marls' face off."

"Naturally." The boys laughed.

"So is today the day then?" Sirius said looking at James.

"Saturday? Yeah." James quipped back.

"Shut up you prat, you know what I mean."

"Are you finally going to tell Lily how you feel?"

"She's my best friend, I don't want to…"

"Ruin things? Prongsie the sexual tension between you guys is unreal, she's pretty much gagging for you to shag her already." Sirius said.

"Don't talk about her like that!" James shot a jinx at Sirius which he deflected lazily, and just then they heard the sounds of footsteps descending from the stairs and a lot of giggling. The boys jumped up and rushed out to the hallway to greet the girls.

Marlene was the first to descend, rushing forward enthusiastically and almost catapulting herself into Remus' arms to greet him. Her soft blond hair was elegantly twisted and tied in a golden mass on her head with a few tendrils falling across her face. Her blue eyes were accentuated by the dark mascara and glitter that framed them, and her cheeks were a beautiful rosy pink, made even more so by her happiness at seeing Remus. She was dressed in a floaty blue dress that cinched in at the waist and stopped just above her knees.

"Okay kids, that's enough break it up now." Sirius remarked as he grinned at the embracing pair.

"Put him down Marly, you don't know where he's been." James laughed. Next to him he heard Sirius wolf-whistle and looked up to see what his best mate was staring so intently at. Tia was now coming down the stairs.

"Close your mouth Black, you're catching flies." She remarked drily as she stepped off the staircase.

"Jones, I almost want to settle down for you, you look amazing." Sirius said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He took in her dark brown hair which fell down her back in a glistening waterfall, the way her lilac dress clung to her curves, complimenting her skin which looked golden and tanned, her full lips made to look even more delicious by the lip gloss she had on.

She grinned at him, "Who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black!"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered something in her ear at which she giggled. James looked around at his friends who were all embracing and rolled his eyes. He was growing anxious at the thought of seeing Lily after all this time and just as he thought this, she appeared at the top of the stairs, and James suddenly found that breathing was not coming as easily to him as it usually did.

She looked ethereal; her hair was in silky waves which cascaded down her back, sparkling with the jewels that were embedded and intricately weaved in. Her face adorned with a light layer of makeup which made her rosy complexion and high cheekbones even more prominent. Her glittering emerald eyes were framed by her impossibly long eyelashes which today were covered with mascara. She was dressed in a floor-length, sleeveless forest green dress which clung to her upper body and flared out at the waist, falling in a fluffy cloud of gossamer and silk around her tiny delicate feet which were strapped up in gold heels.

She floated down the stairs, taking the hand he offered her and stood so close to him that he could see his reflection in her eyes. He was momentarily stunned.

"Erm, Lil.. Hi, erm…"

Lily giggled and James snapped out of his speechlessness and lifted her off her feet as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Missed you Evans."

"Missed you too Potter."

"You look unreal."

She blushed as they broke apart from their embrace seemingly oblivious of the others who were now watching them interestedly.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself." Lily smiled embarrassedly as she noticed how good he looked, his hair messy as ever, dressed up in a fitted Muggle suit towering over her.

"Well you know, had to make an effort for you."

"For Alice and Frank, you mean." Lily finally looked up at him, staring into his eyes. She wondered if he could hear how hard her heart was beating – she tried to avoid eye contact with James at most times, because his eyes had the ability to make her turn to jelly – but in this moment she could not resist.

"No. For you." He whispered so softly that only she could hear.

"Right then! We'll get going shall we? Portkey is ready." Remus beamed gesturing towards the empty plastic bottle that had appeared from seemingly nowhere and was now glowing with blue light.

"After you." James whispered into Lily's hair as she felt him press behind her as they both reached to place a finger on the Portkey and Lily felt absolutely certain that the pulling at her navel had absolutely nothing to do with the Portkey.