In Which Lily Meets a Peculiar Boy

or

Thank You

Doesn't belong to me. If it did, I would not be writing fanfiction...

A nine year old girl sat on the swing, her long red hair blowing in the wind, the sound of children and her sister playing fluttered around her, a constant reminder that they other children didn't like her. Her sister had stopped to invite her to play but Lily Evans just shook her head and shooed Petunia Evans off with a sad smile. Her sister's friends didn't like her, after all.

The day, she decided, had passed by far too slow for her liking. She kicked her feet into the dirt and sighed. Swings were stupid when there wasn't anyone to swing with you.

"What are you doing?" A small boy asked her. He was peculiar. Sandy coloured hair and a soft smile, he also had scars on his face. Strange, Lily thought then she realized that she was in company and answered him back hurriedly.

"Sitting." It came out as a squeak and she smiled sheepishly. The other boy didn't seem to mind though. He just smiled and stuck out his hand. "Remus J. Lupin. Want to sit together?"

Not trusting her voice to work, Lily nodded and gestured for Remus to take a seat. He sat gratefully and started pumping his legs to make the swing move. "Remus is a peculiar name." Lily said suddenly to him. The look on his face made her blush, "I, uh, just meant I haven't met anyone named Remus before. So it's a little peculiar to me." She managed to stutter out and Remus laughed heartily. Lily decided then that Remus looked much nicer when he laughed. Made him look more welcoming.

"Not many people have met a Remus. What's your name, anyway? If you don't mind me asking." He chuckled. "I'm Lily!" The red head said proudly. Remus decides that he liked her way of talking, it was proper with the prefect amount of immaturity. He made a mental note to practice that way of talking later on.

"I can tell by that look on your face that you wan to ask me a question." Lily said after a few minutes of silence. Your nose is scrunched up and you look like you're about to burst." Remus grinned sheepishly. "You got me. Why are you siting alone?" This question made Lily hesitate. No one ever asked her why.

Her hesitation only lasted for half a second before Lily dropped her head and kicked the ground. "The other children don't like me." It was suppose to come out in a nonchalant voice to mask her hurt, but it came out soft and full of hurt. "I don't see why. You're really nice and funny. I don't know why they wouldn't want to play with you." Lily snapped her head up when he finished his little speech. Green eyes met blue eyes and there was a spark. A remarkable spark full of sibling love. They stayed like that, just looking at each other with half smiles on their face until Petunia walked up, sneered at Remus and pulled Lily away. Before she was out of sight, the younger girl turned and mouthed two words to the young boy still sitting on the swings. Those words made him swell with a sort of pride and protectiveness. Those words filled him with joy and the hope that maybe someone wouldn't mind his lycanthropy. He was just as grateful that she talked to him that he mouthed those two words back and she smiled before being dragged once more by her sister.

Thank you...