Chapter 2

A few days had passed since Lily arrived at the Potter's house, but little had changed. A feeling of sadness had washed over the group. The day after Lily had arrived Peter showed up. Lily never liked Peter and he had only gotten worse through the years. The morning after she had arrived, Lily met James's parents. Eleanor Potter was a sweet lady, small in frame and young for having a 17 year old son. Allen Potter was in his late 30's, tall and handsome. James looked exactly like his father. Eleanor was quiet, while Allen was outgoing and loud.

Sirius spent his days locked away in his room, only coming out for meals and the occasional late night chat in Lily's room. Remus had left two days after Lily arrived to be home for the full moon. Peter was always off sneaking around and acting suspicious, which left a lot of alone time for Lily and James.

Lily was beginning to feel at home in the Potter's house. She spent most of her time in the living room, reading some of her books for next year to get ahead in her classes. Lily had always taken her magical school work so seriously, it was her escape from the muggle world. Magical reading and homework was never a bore, everything was so new in the magical world. No matter how many years she spent in the magical world, it never ceased to amaze her.

"Hey Lily" James said, interrupting her thoughts, as he sat down next to her on the couch. "Whatcha reading?"

"Just some reading for my advanced potions class next year" Lily answered, putting a bookmark in her textbook and sitting it down on the arm rest.

"Only you would be doing school work in the summer" James teased, running his hand nervously through his hair. "Would you like to go down to the quidditch pitch with me?"

"You know I can't fly, Potter" Lily replied, reaching for her book again.

"Well then now's the time to learn! I have an extra broom and everything, come on Lily" James replied, getting up and reaching for her arm.

"Fine Potter, but if I die it's on you" Lily teased, letting him pull her up off her spot on the couch. They walked to the quidditch pitch behind his house and she gasped when she saw it "Whoa I didn't think that you actually had a quidditch pitch"

"Of course I do! How else do you think that I got this good?" James replied, being his arrogant self.

"Deflate your head, Potter" Lily teased. She watched as he made his way over to a small shed by the pitch and returned with two brooms."Do you know the basics of flying?" he asked, but before he could stop her she was already off on the broom. Lily had always been that way, she always wanted to be the best and never liked people showing her how to do things.

James heard a screech of delight from Lily and got on his broom to join her in the air. He saw a swoosh of red hair go past him and decided to follow her. Again, he heard a screech but this time it sounded distressed. He rushed to meet up with her and see what was wrong.

"James" She yelled, not slowing down at all to talk but, in fact, speeding up "How do I stop?" her words were carried away with her and he rushed again to meet up with her.

Before he could explain to her how to stop she had lunged off of her broom and on to his, hanging on for dear life. James slowed down so they were just hovering in the air and they watched as the broom that she had been on smashed into the side of his house.

"James i'm so sorry, ill buy you a new one I promise" Lily began but stopped when she heard his loud, booming laugh.

"Whats so funny" she asked, looking up at him.

"Only you, Lily." he began but was stopped by another fit of laughter. He landed on the ground and helped her get off the broom as he continued "You're the only person i know who would take off on a broom at full speed and not figure out how to stop it"

"Oh shut up, Potter." She teased, slapping his shoulder playfully.

Lily was still sleeping at noon the next day when she heard a knock at the door. She rolled over and let out a groan when she remembered the previous night. After a long day of hanging out with James she had returned to her room ready to sleep. Not 5 minutes after her eyes closed she had heard Sirius knock at the door. He had kept her up past 4 A.M. talking. Now he talked about more than just his uncle. Lily slowly saw the light return back into his eyes, and the smile slowly return back to his face.

"Come in" She groaned, and peeked her eyes out from beneath the blankets to see James walking into her room.

"Hey Lily" he greeted, "I was wondering if you wanted to take Sirius and Remus out to the muggle amusement park with me today? Peter says hes not feeling well"

"Of course, I love amusement parks" Lily replied, rolling out of bed.

"Okay, meet us downstairs when you're ready" James said with a smile before leaving.

Lily walked over to the bathroom, and ran a brush through her hair before pulling it up in a messy bun. She then washed her face and brushed her teeth, and went to dig through her trunk. Eventually she decided on a maroon T shirt and her favorite skinny jeans, before heading downstairs.

When Lily got downstairs she was excited to see Sirius laughing at a joke between Remus and James. Remus looked pretty good, he had been gone for a few days so most of the scratches and bruises had faded.

"Remus! You're back!" Lily cheered before engulfing him in a hug.

He patted her on the back and pulled away "And better than ever" He finished and they all chuckled. "So have any of you ever been to an amusement park?" He asked.

"I have when I was little" Lily began "But I was too scared to ride any of the roller coasters"

When they arrived at the park all of the boys were like kids in a candy shop. Very rarely did any of them get to be around muggles, so they were more interested in the people than the rides.

They got in line for a roller coaster, and Sirius was complaining 3 minutes into it. "You know, wizards could of thought up a WAY more efficient way to do this by now" He complained.

"Shh, Padfoot!" Remus scolded "There are muggles around" he whispered, looking over his shoulder.

Lily couldn't help but smile at the group of boys, they were so dumb in the muggle world. All three of them were brilliant, but they couldn't comprehend the easier of the two worlds. Lily found herself looking at James, he was running his hand through his already messy hair.

"How fast do you think roller coasters go?" he asked, a tint of nervousness in his voice.

"Eh, 75 miles on the fast ones." Lily replied. Terror filled James's eyes. "But don't worry Potter, I'll hold your hand" She teased.

When it was finally their turn, Remus and Sirius rushed into a seat together "Ha now Lils HAS to sit with Jamesie-poo" Sirius teased before turning around and fastening his seat belt. Lily gave James a wide eyed look, but smiled to see her friend getting back to his normal self. James sat down next to Lily in the cart behind Remus and Sirius.

When the carts began to move Lily got wide eyed as she realized exactly what she was doing. James noticed and teased "Looks like YOU need to hold MY hand, Lily"

Lily grabbed James's hand, which definitely shocked him more than the the fact that now they were dropping from 200 feet in the air. Lily was next to him, screaming from the adrenaline pumping through her veins and the feeling of her stomach in her throat. James was screaming because his hand raised in the air was linked to Lily's. However bad he was at showing it, James had been in love with Lily Evans since the first time he laid eyes on her when they were 11.

After the amusement park, the group went to a small restaurant in Lily's hometown to eat. Each member of the group had windswept hair, which for James was no change at all, and a wild look in their eyes. They joked and laughed so hard that Remus snorted soda through his nose, all over the table; which only made the group laugh harder.

Lily was truly happy with this group of boys, who made up the entirety of her friend group. Even Potter was growing on her.

"Lily Evans?" they heard from across the room, and the whole group turned their eyes to a boy about their age. "Lily! I haven't seen you in years" He exclaimed.

"Aaron, right?" Lily questioned, recognizing the boy from her muggle school before she found out that she was a witch. "How have you been?"

"Great!" he answered, pulling lily up from her chair and into a hug. "You have gotten so pretty"

Lily was a little shocked by the statement and mumbled a "Thank you" while pulling out of the hug.

"Are you going to be in town long? Maybe we can go see a movie and catch up some time" Aaron asked.

"Well i'm not really going to be in town long" Lily answered.

"What about today, Lil" Aaron asked and Sirius rose from his chair.

"Whoa only I call her 'Lil'" Sirius corrected, while James rose from his chair.

"Yeah, she said she is busy" James added, a hint of jealousy in his eyes. Remus sighed and stood up from his chair.

"Padfoot, Prongs, let Lily speak for herself" Remus said.

"Thank you, Remus" Lily said, peeking a look back at him before turning back to Aaron "But they are right, i'm busy, and we were just leaving" She finished, before leading the group out the door and walking down the street.

"You're a boy magnet, Lil" Sirius laughed as they walked. "Poor guy, trys to talk to a girl and gets three marauders after him"

"Yeah you will make it impossible to ever get a date" Lily laughed, with a hint of seriousness in her voice.

"Why do you think none of your dates have ever came back?" Remus asked "It was most definitely not you"

Lily's temper flared a little at that statement, she stopped walking and spun around to face the group of boys. Hand hovering over her pocket where she keeps her wand "You did what?" she asked, venom in her voice and eyes zeroing in on Sirius. All three of the boys had been the target of Lily's famous temper at one point or another, and none of them would wish it on anyone.

Knowing this, James spoke up "It wasn't Sirius"

Lily turned to James with a look that surprisingly wasn't fury. Curiosity swirled in her green eyes. "Why" she asked.

Now how exactly could James answer that without telling her that he had a crazy crush on her? He had been doing so well this last week. They were finally friends. "Because Lily," James sighed "I didn't think they were good enough"

Lily wasn't stupid, she knew what that meant. No way James liked her. Not possible. Lily shot Remus a questioning look and he just nodded. The thoughts were circling around in her head at a million miles per hour. Did James really like her?