AN: I've changed Lily Evans' birthday for the purposes of the fic. Same age, just born in early September rather than late January.

Remus, who didn't see the need to do his hair before dinner, unlike some people, made it to the Great Hall before the rest of the lake group. He slid on to the bench next to his studying sister and across from Peter, who, as usual, had seated himself as close as possible to the Gryffindor cheese plate.

Remus greeted his rather tragically proportioned friend and waited for his sister to tell him what exactly had crawled up her ass.

"So, what's going on? I thought you'd be among the most dedicated to the preservation of summer."

His sister had always loved the outdoors, her only reprieve from the homeschooling she had received for most of her life.

Nim peaked out from behind the transfiguration book that she had failed to absorb all day. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. And it's not summer. It's not my fault you lot are too stubborn or stupid to realize the seasons have changed." She resumed her attempt at reading, ignoring her empty plate and her brother.

Remus furrowed his brow. He thought Nim had made it out of her bratty phase when she'd finally been allowed to attend Hogwarts. If he had to start putting up with her weird mixture of fits and silent treatments again he would explode. Sighing and chalking it up to female teenaged angst, Remus poured himself some tea and tried to decide between the duck and the rabbit. His dual nature as wolf and man had left Remus with a distinct preference for game meats. Peter meanwhile, unable to choose between a block of Munster and a Dubliner, grabbed both.

Luckily, Remus was spared the boredom of Peter's conversation and the annoyance of his sister's silence by the arrival of the rest of the lake sitters. Although he occasionally shared Sirius' disturbance with the number of pet-names James had for Lily, their company was still better than being ignored or forced into another conversation about the best means of processing cheese.

"Hey there. Congratulations on spending ten minutes to make your hair look like you just rolled out of bed. In a whore-house."

"Thanks Moony. It's hard work looking this good and making womenfolk's minds instantly turn to bed. I'm glad to know it's working."

Remus shook his head and settled on the braised rabbit and a side of collared greens. Sirius refused to look past Remus and instead focused his attention on his shepherds pie. Nim had made no attempt to speak to him, or to talk about their encounter, so he was bloody well going to follow her lead. The last thing he needed was an angry female, her werewolf brother and a greasy git after him all at once.

Lily, always the concerned friend, was rather less inclined to leave Nim to her foul mood. She gave James a meaningful look and after a few seconds he caught on.

"Nim, you're studying early for next weeks Transfiguration demonstration?"

She nodded her assent, not bothering to look up.

"But your goat is already 9/10th of the way towards being an ottoman."

"It still nibbles at any shoes or socks left on it. Hardly an acceptable feature in furniture designed for feet. "

"Well, I'm sure you'll perfect it in no time and be able to relax."

Nim didn't respond. James would not take a hint.

He carried on anyway.

"Which is great, since we were planning on having a proper Muggle style sleepover in the Room of Requirement this Friday."

Nims words were becoming acidic: "And why on earth are we planning to do that?"

She had no patience left and resolved to stop responding all together. But this time it was Lily who spoke, rather than James.

"Well of course it's pretty stupid and it'll probably be really dull compared to wizarding parties, but Fridays my birthday and 16 is kind of a big age for some Muggles and..."Lily's voice started to falter as embarrassment at her idea began to sink in, "...and when I was little I always imagined a muggle 16th birthday party and I just thought...I mean...if you guys were willing I'd like to pretend for just the night...I mean, it's a stupid idea, we shouldn't bother," she finished lamely, tears pricking behind her eyes.

James was trying to find the right assurances to give, but luckily Nim cut in.

"Oh! Oh no, I mean, that sounds wonderful. I'm sorry Lily, I'm being a complete prat. I've always wanted to go to a muggle party. They always look so festive. It's a great idea. I'm sure everyone would love to come."

The boys quickly voiced their wholehearted agreement and begged their assorted gods that Lily wouldn't start crying. The Marauders were old enough to care for girls, but still a bit young to have any idea of why they were constantly bursting into tears or how to deal with those tears. Even James and Remus were only in the tissue proffering stage. Sirius would either ignore them, reasoning that that's what guys wanted in the same situation, or offer sexual distraction. This impulse was what had led him to bed Nim, and wasn't really an option for Lily. Peter was still trying to figure out how to speak to girls in general, much less in times of distress. His attempts at cheese-based conversation starters had been resounding failures.

Luckily for the boys, Lily was much improved by their enthusiasm and no tears appeared.

The rest of dinner passed pleasantly enough.

Lily was newly enthused about her party and insisting that the guests make their own hats rather than letting the Room provide them. Remus and Sirius spent much of the meal adding to the birthday discussion or arguing about whose Astronomy homework was correct. Even Peter was pleased, discovering Nim was not totally opposed to his largely cheese-oriented conversation. Nim was almost happy for Peter's boring, safe conversation, since it gave her a way to ignore Sirius without snubbing the rest of the group.

As the last of the pumpkin juice cleared (a subtle hint from the house elves that it was time to leave), the Gryffindors got up as group and headed for the door. Nim was determined to apologize to Lily more fully for snubbing her birthday idea and sped up to walk next to the girl. As she passed Sirius their hands brushed for the briefest of moments and a spark shot through her, bringing forth the memories she was trying so desperately to forget. That she needed to forget.

Him cradling her, lips brushing away her tears and hesitantly finding her mouth. The feel of his arms wrapped around her as he pulled her on top of him. The urgency and hunger of their bodies, wrapped together and lost to a primitive and desperate need.

She did not look back at him.