Lily

"Lil-ly!" Petunia called. I groaned, and pulled my blanket over my head. We were in California on vacation from school, and she wanted to see her idol, crush, and future husband, (in her dreams,) actor and womanizer James Potter. He was famous for playing Neville Longbottom in the movies of the famous book series, which was appropriately named Neville Longbottom. The books were very good, and so were the movies, with the exception of James Potter. He was filthy rich, my age, and every time he was seen in public, he pulled a red haired girl into his house. That same girl would be seen the following day, crying about how James Potter had told her "she wasn't the girl he was looking for." Now, you would think that Petunia would have learned from the ten news reports on those poor, (dumb,) girls, but noo, she's still in luurve with him. So that's why we were going to see him at the Hollywood Christmas Parade, when they show off all their best actors like trophies. I wonder if he'll pick Petunia this time. That would be funny. She's wearing a red wig, just in case.

I pushed myself out of he hotel bed, and grabbed my book, put on my t-shirt and skirt, then tumbled down the stairs. Petunia was at the bottom, nearly red in the face."You're late! You know the parade starts at three, and if we don't get there soon, James won't be able to see me!" I rolled my eyes. It was eight in the morning. But Mum and Dad always favored Petunia because they thought that she was the perfect little trophy daughter, so that was why I had to get up now to see the parade. In my family, I was, well, the geek. I liked things that way. Much more freedom. And if you would believe it, my parents approved heartily of her dumb little crush on James Potter. My family's very, shall we put it, contrary. Oh well.

I could hear my parents bustling around in their room, which is right above the kitchen, where I was now trying to shove my face full of bagels before they forced me into a car to see" pretty perfect Potter." Petunia eyed me distastfully, herself daintily biting into a single slice of apple. I grinned at her with food in my mouth, just to gross her out. she looked away, and I went back to eating. At this time, my parents came rushing down the stairs, and my dear, dear sister got up to yell at them. They, unlike me, just nodded like little dogs obeying their master. If Petunia wasn't so full of herself, she would have made a good leader. Too bad she is so full of herself. The four of us piled into the rental car, Petunia with her face caked with makeup, me with my book, Mum and Dad just sliding in, still obeying commands. It was going to be a long drive to Hollywood.


James

I sat in the changing room, staring at myself in the mirror, remembering Lily; her perfect long red hair, her perfect large green eyes, her perfect little imperfection in the form of a birthmark on her neck. Lily was perfect, and I would do anything to find her.

I had woken up on a morning three years ago, with twenty one year old memories in a thirteen year old body. My first thought, " This is heaven." But in heaven you didn't live in an American orphanage, and certainly not in the form of the awkward kind of teenage boy. Later, I had taken a walk through the city to escape the old woman who apparently I was custody of, so I could look for Lily. Twelve hundred feet away from the door of the orphanage, I found myself dragged by an overdressed man into a studio of snobbies for an audition I didn't sign up for. I was supposed to play Neville Longbottom, Frank and Alice's baby boy. Except in this world, he was a book character. The casting directors gave me a script which I was supposed to read from. At that point, I was sure I wasn't dead. No one in heaven could be this annoying. But, I did it anyway, and by the end, all the girly men discussed something among themselves, and offered me a job as the next Hollywood star. I was about to reject the offer, but then I thought of Lily. If my face was on a million posters around the world, she would be able to find me! So I took the job.

Three years later, I still haven't found her. There were few things I was sure of in Godric's Hollow, that Lily loved me, that Harry was going to be safe, and that my friends and fellow members of the Marauders would never let me down. Also, that when people get hit by the Avada Kedavra, they die. Now, I'm questioning every single one of those things. If Peter hadn't let me down, how could Voldemort had gotten in? If I was hit by the Avada Kedavra, why was't I dead? If Harry was safe, why did Voldemort come to kill him? And most importantly, if Lily loved me, why hadn't she come looking for me? Of course, I didn't know if Lily was transported to this world as well, but I couldn't let myself dwell on that. If I did, I would go into deep depression and never come out. Without my Lilyflower, my life doesn't really have meaning. So my goal for every action, every minute of my life, was to be able to find Lily. I took the acting job so I could travel places to look for her, I picked up those girls to see if they were Lily. I sleep, I eat so if I find her, I can keep her safe.

Now my manager, a sweet old lady that I thought of as my caring grandmother is knocking on the door, reminding me that the Parade starts in ten minutes. I sighed. Another try to find Lily. I tucked in my shirt, straightened out my robes, and cleaned my hair with some wandless magic. Then I marched my way onto the Neville Longbottom float.


Lily

As soon as we arrived at the grounds, Petunia started shoving her way through the crowd of girls looking to get a chance with some celebrity or another, and I was dragged through to act as her bodyguard. After two hours hour of shoving and kicking and screaming on her part, Petunia and, consequently, me, made it to the edge of the ribbon holding the fans back. We got there just in time for the start of the parade, which we could see because it was flat ground all the way to the beginning point, where floats and security officers were gathered. Petunia finally stopped pulling me through the crowd and started ogling the "hot" boys. I leaned on the rope to read, becoming engrossed in Pride and Prejudice, sweeping my hair to one side to let the sunlight shine on the pages. After only what seemed like fifteen minutes, I heard the noise level around me ecsalate from roaring to booming like everlasting thunder. And I only noticed that because I felt a tap on my shoulder.


James

Running and jumping onto the moving float, I felt Gran, which is really what I call my manager, grab me and scold me for being late before letting the float leave the starting ground. Climbing to the top, I scanned the crowd for any natural redheads. Having decided that I had some sort of affinity for red haired girls, a lot of them had dyed their hair or put on wig. But I could tell that they were fake. None of them had Lily's dark, fiery color. Suddenly spotting something that looked natural down at the left, I climbed down from the peak. I heard all the girls' shrill voices screaming as I did. It was real, but not Lily's Irish red. I cursed my bad eyesight. Something bright flashed into my eyes. I took a closer look at it. A book! Someone was reading a book at a parade of the most famous people in the world! the girl reading it had bright red hair. Real, I noticed. And a lot like Lily's when she was younger. Scanning again, I noticed a lily shaped birthmark on the side of the girl's neck, again, like Lily's. I had to see for myself.

Every time before, when I went down, I invited the girl on a date to see if she was the real Lily. Ever time, she wasn't. Still, I had to take that chance. Signaling to the float driver to slow down a little, I jumped down and skirted around the girls' hands reaching for me. I pulled a few autographs out of my pocket, and tossed them to the wind. That always got the crowd of girls out of the way. The bimbos scrambled for the scraps, leaving the red-haired girl the only one in a wide ten-foot radius. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at me.


Lily

I turned to see a pair of handsome hazel eyes staring at me intensely. I'd seen them somewhere before, and I stared back to see if I could remember. When he didn't break away, I asked him," Do I know you?" Don't look at me like that, you. I really wanted to know. Normally, I can memorize a face even if I see them for a second, and it's sometimes odd when I say hi to someone I saw once and they look at me oddly. I don't normally forget faces.

"Would you like to come to dinner with me?" the boy asked. Well, that was random. But since I really wanted to know who he was, and he was kind of cute, I said,"Sure." Then he grabbed my hand, which surprised me, and ducked around the security guards and pulled me onto the float. "Errr, I'm not really sure we should be on here." I reprimanded him. He smiled at me. It was kind of nice." What do you mean?" he answered. " This is my float, after all." Then, I realized what he was wearing. A wizard's robe, and we were standing on a castle float.


James

The girl who looked a lot like Lily turned when I tapped her shoulder. She turned around and looked at me with a kind of recognition. "Do I know you?" Maybe after years of searching, this really was Lily. That stranger game used to be something that we did every time I came back from an Auror trip. Those four words were the first words she'd ever said to me, back in first year. Knowing full well the disappointment this could lead to if I had gotten the wrong girl, I invited her on a date. She said yes! All of the disappointment I had felt over the years would be worth it if this really was Lily. So I pulled her onto the float, and she looked around, analyzing the elements around her, and I could see that a conclusion formed in her head. "You're Petunia's crush, aren't you? That womanizer James Potter." I felt my heart rise, then plummet. It was a very odd feeling. On the bright side, if this wasn't Lily, then there was no one in the world that could make it this close. On the dark side, she didn't know me as her husband, only "that womanizer James Potter."

"Hey, do you think you could sign something for my older sister? Then let. Me. Down?" She hissed the last words at me. "What about that date you agreed to?" I asked, knowing that Lily's sense of duty to her promises would force her to say. She huffed. "One time I get a cute boy before Petunia, and it turns out to be you." I looked, playfully offended, at her. This was just like good old Hogwarts. Bringing her inside the float control room, I pulled out the only chair for her. She sat down while I leaned against the wall. "So, what's your name?" I tried to make conversation. "Lily Evans." She replied sullenly. My heart leaped and soared in my chest. I had found her, I had! But.. she didn't know me. "Hi, I'm James Potter." She rolled her eyes. " Oh, I know that. Judging by the fact that you are on a Hogwarts float dressed as Neville Longbottom and that you've just dragged another red-headed girl, me, out of the crowd, you're either James Potter or a clone. And since cloning is neither legal nor possible, I'd say that you were James Potter." That's my Lily. Logical, hot tempered, oh, and the eye rolling. Lily loved eye rolling, particularly at me. I wondered, suddenly, if she maybe had memories, just had them locked up in her head. Maybe there was a trigger. " Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a Harry Potter, would you? You know, a baby, green eyes, black hair?" Again recognition. "Is this a dumb pickup line?" I shook my head." Well then, if I had a son I always wanted to name him Harry. Wait. Potter?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you sure this isn't just a dumb pickup line?" I smiled. Too much like my old Lily. It seemed that she took this to mean it was a pickup line, and she huffed and turned away. At this point, I noticed that the float was slowing down. Then it stopped altogether. Gran opened the door, walked in and seemed surprised to see Lily, but she reverted back to normal Gran quickly. "Well then, James, I see you've found another girl." She said gruffly. Gran never liked my girls, but she doesn't seem to hate Lily. Hmm. "Come on, this float's a rental." Lily quickly got up and headed for the door. I grabbed her hand and followed her. Now for that date...