PaintedBlank A/N: holy eff, that took forever to write. School's getting pretty busy and there've been lots of distractions...like my hot russian neighbour Dimitri hehehe...

RaspberryPolarBear cannot leave a message right now as she's probably asleep. I'm only awake so I can check if it's a snow day tomorrow and I dont have to go to school. Anyway, you go read now and leave lots of big happy reviews!

James

There is someone behind, following. Ever since I left the train I could feel a presence. The back of my head is burning under someone's intense stare. If I can walk faster, get into a crowd and blend in, they'll never find me.

What do they want? And why this week of all weeks? I hate the new assignment. I can't believe the professor rendered all trainees unable to use magic just to teach us a lesson. One could get seriously hurt. Like me, for example!

I cross the street and push to the center of the crowd and keep moving forward. I turn my head sideways to catch a glimpse of who it is. It's a woman with red fuzz for hair and that's all I can tell with my vision impaired the way it is. At the next corner, I'll double back and round up on her from behind catching her off guard. Even Moody would be proud.

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"Following me, were you?"

The grin slowly faded from James' face, and Lily felt his hand clamp down on her arm. He began to pull her towards an alleyway.

"I'll have you know, that I don't take kindly to people following me." Lily was stuck in some kind of daze, and she found herself moving her lips like a goldfish, trying to get words out. However, when her back met up with a solid brick wall, things began to come back into focus.

Casting her green eyes upwards, she saw rain-covered glasses staring back at her, and they weren't looking terribly friendly at that. Surely James couldn't have forgotten her...

Too caught up with herself, Lily didn't realize that she was being spoken to, but she managed to catch the last few words, " . . . your name?"

Blinking, Lily licked her lips and answered, "Lily...Lily Evans."

The grip on her arm lessened, and Lily saw that James had taken a step backwards. There was a look of disbelief on his face as he squinted at her. Lily wrenched her arm free of his and moved away, searching for something to say to break the silence. But nothing came to mind. She was caught between a wall, and a very confused looking James Potter.

"Seven years and you don't even remember me?" spat the furious redhead.

"Oh believe me, I remember you Lily. You look...different that's all," he replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sighing, James pinched the bridge of his nose and looked to the sky, only to get his eyes pelted with rain so he looked down quickly again. He'd always imagined meeting someone from Hogwarts after so long would go smoother. Quickly checking the time he realized he was now late for his appointment. Now he was mad.

"Are all women this irritable?"

"That's it I'm leaving. I don't know why I even bothered with you," yelled Lily, making her way to the entrance of the alley. She felt embarrassed. Not only did he make her miss her stop, yes it was his fault she missed it, and have her look like a some kind of creepy stalker, now he insults her!

"No, come back here. Look, we got off on the wrong foot," James made an attempt to go after Lily, "See, the thing is. I'm legally blind right now. My glasses are fucked up, oh sorry you never liked swearing, and I needed a new prescription. So I was about to..."

Lily halted just as she was about to turn the corner.

"You're a full fledged wizard. Why didn't you just fix it with magic?"

"That's just the thing. My professor assigned some project that has everyone go without using magic for a week. Kind of like a survival assignment, so I haven't been able to use magic at all." Lily was a bit skeptical.

"You're a pureblood, why didn't you just get another wizard or witch to fix it for you?"

"No one knew how. Everyone I know has perfect vision, I'm the only blind bat in a group of hawks." Lily raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"You never were very good at comparisons."

"Let's not get over critical here. Look, Lily I'm in a rush. Are you doing anything tonight? It would be nice to catch up, you know for old times sake."

"I suppose I can make it tonight I don't think I have anything else to do and I haven't gone out in a while," said Lily fussing with her wet pouffy hair, "Would anyone else be coming?"

"Just Remus and Sirius. Meet us at the Winchester pub. Remus works there. Now, I really have to go, I'll see you tonight then?" said James as he began to walk out into the street.

"Wait a minute before you go," said Lily. She got on her tiptoes and gently taking the glasses off his face, she tapped them with her wand, and held them out in her palm. "Here you go, I fixed them and now they're polished too." And with that she walked off, making sure to sway her hips slightly.

James watched her go, still holding the glasses in his hands. Her perfect getaway was ruined when she tripped.

"Oh shit! My mom!" she cried stamping her foot in frustration.

"Your mom?" asked James confused.

"Yes, my mother!"

"Your mother?" he asked again.

"Is there an echo in here? Stop repeating me! I was supposed to meet her for lunch and now I'm so goddamned late, my hair is pouffy, I missed my fucking stop, and I don't have an umbrella for this bloody rain!" she yelled.

" . . .You swear now?" James couldn't understand why, but something about hearing girls swear just made his day. He didn't get a response though Lily had already high tailed out of the alleyway and was lost to the crowded street.

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Lily knocked on the door. She knocked and knocked...and finally tried the bell.

DING DONG the witch is dead...

'Hmm,' she thought, "Petunia must've changed the old bell.'

"Like the new bell? You're late. Get in here quick, you're letting the warmth out," said Petunia in her usual chopped tone ushering her in.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" yelled their mother from the recesses of the kitchen just as Lily was trying to get detangled from her scarf.

"I've been slaving away in the kitchen for hours for our once a week luncheon and you show up an hour late?" asked her mother already on the beginnings of a guilt trip.

"Mum," said Lily simply, "It's just macaroni and cheese."

"Yeah… but I cut up some sausages and threw them in," said her mother shiftily.

"You always make it out to be worse than it is," said Lily already pulling out a chair and serving herself.

"That's not the issue here. You were late!" said her mother stubbornly. She added extra effect by picking up her spoon and waving it in Lily's direction, succesfully sending noodles flying all over the room.

"Anyway," said Lily trying to deter her mother from a long winded rant, "The reason I was late was because I missed my train stop, and then I ran into an old classmate of mine from school..."

"Your freak school, you mean?" interrupted Petunia. Lily ignored her and turned to her Mum.

"Oooh, is he cute?" chirped her mother, also ignoring Petunia.

"Mum, honestly! How can you just assume like that? It could've been a girl," argued Lily blushing and looking down at her plate.

"I'm just saying that if it was a girl you wouldn't have been late. You're not the type to miss your stop," said her mother

"I could've missed my stop any number of ways, it wasn't his fault," retorted Lily.

"It doesn't matter either way, you've just admitted it was a boy. Now, was it that James boy you always complained about?"

"Mum!"

"Lily, you're twenty now. We can talk about this without you getting so frazzled, can't we?"

"I could've missed my stop any number of ways, it wasn't his fault," retorted Lily.

"It doesn't matter either way, you've just admitted it was a he. Now, was it that James boy you always complained about?"

"Mum!"

"Lily, calm down."

"No, now stop prying. Where is Dad anyway?" asked Lily

"Oh, he just stepped out to get some milk. He should be back within the hour. Eat, eat! You look live you've been starving yourself," goaded her mother.

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Meanwhile…

James had just unlocked the door to his flat, and was taking off his jacket. He tossed his keys onto the side table before walking towards the kitchen where Sirius was sitting at the dining table circling jobs in the classifieds.

"Any messages for me?" asked James looking through the cupboards for something to eat. There were some biscuits on the top shelf that caught his eye but he couldn't reach it. Spotting a stool, he moved it over and climbed up to grab them.

"Your Mum owled to say that tomorrow's your Dad's Birthday and whether you're coming over, " said Sirius still not looking up, "Then Remus owled asking whether you wanted to go eat out tonight."

Too busy trying to wrap his fingers around the plastic package James hadn't really been paying attention. Circling something on the newspaper, Sirius flipped the page, but kept his head down.

"And then your Mum owled back asking if I wanted to eat her out tonight."

"What?" yelled James as he toppled off the stool. The offending package, that he had just managed to get his hands on was pushed back even further on the shelf.

"Just checking to see if you were listening, mate," said Sirius still studiously circling. James wasn't going to give up on his biscuits though. He walked over to Sirius, whacked him over the head and went back to his stool only to find that Sirius had already levitated the package down to the counter for him.
He made himself a cup of tea and sat down dunking his biscuits into his cup.

"So, you wouldn't believe whom I ran into today…" he started.

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"Remus, another round over here," yelled James over the rowdy bar crowd. There was a football game on, so there were more people in the bar than usual.

"Where is that girl? She's the one that was always punctual. She really must've changed then," said Sirius in between sips of his rum.

"You know," said Remus pouring their drinks, "She probably couldn't find the place. After all, we just moved here a few days ago. Remember the old place? Couldn't hold more than 20 customers. Bad for business that was"

"You're right, I'll go outside and wait for her," said James taking his drink with him.

"You'd better not lose that glass, it'll be the 5th time this month and I keep getting in trouble for it," yelled Remus at his retreating back.

"You worry too much," called back James over his shoulder just as he was approaching the door. The door opened and hit him right in the chest, spilling his beer all over himself. The glass dropped to the floor...and bounced. Flabbergasted, James looked over at Remus with a surprised expression on his face, and Remus just grinned.

"Just put that charm on today. Pretty nifty."

Lily had just apparated to the location that James had given her, and she couldn't see anything that indicated there was a bar nearby. It looked like an old alleyway just off the main street. Stepping cautiously, she made her way up the street looking all around for that goddamned bar!

"If I can't find it, I'm going home. Stupid James!"

Feeling a little vulnerable to the night and it's predators she started looking for the bar a little more frantically turning her head every which way except the front. That's why she didn't catch a glimpse of what she ran into. It felt like a wall...a fleshy wall. She grasped the wall's sweater and pulled herself up.

"... Lily? You alright?" Opening her eyes, Lily looked up and realized that it was James...and she was still hanging onto his sweater. She smiled...he had nice abs

"Could you stop feeling me up now?" asked James.

"I am doing no such thing! I'm uh...checking for injuries, that's all," she quickly covered up.

"Well, if you're done, let's get ourselves inside. The rain's making your hair pouffy again," he said with a smile and led her inside.

She noticed that his hair was more messy than usual, and the sweater that he was wearing was wet in certain parts. Sighing, the red head followed him into the bar.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Now go write a big happy review! You know you waant to. Oh hey, and wondering...does the summary completely suck? Does it need some work? WE NEED TO KNOW! We aren't getting enough viewers