A/N: Well…read on! I have to say, some important things happen in this chapter, so you don't want to miss out.

Courtney

Chapter 6

"And Lily, this is my mother."

Lily politely shook hands with James' mother, a young, vibrant woman with black hair and soft brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter," she said with a smile. All the formal introductions had been made; Mr. Potter and James looked almost identical. If James had been his father's age, it would be difficult to separate them. James' mother shared in the similarities, too. Lily found this funny, because her family looked nothing alike.

And so, as it was, they sat down for tea and small shortbread cookies. Lily hadn't eaten anything in a day, so she was quite hungry. She suddenly felt like she was thrust back into old Parisian society, where the women would eat like birds in public, and have all the proper manners. Lily felt as if she couldn't say or do anything wrong, or else she'd be shunned by the household. She also didn't want Mr. and Mrs. Potter to think of her as someone who eats like a pig, so she took two of the smallest cookies and vowed to eat more later, when everyone was asleep.

"So, Lily, how are your grades in school?" The question from Mrs. Potter was easy enough to answer…if only she could answer it.

She opened her mouth to reply, but James cut in. "Oh, mum, she's one of the best students Hogwarts has ever seen! Her grades are twice as good as Sirius'."

Lily abruptly closed her mouth so she wouldn't look like a fish with her mouth hanging open.

"Hey!" Sirius retorted. "My marks aren't that bad. Besides, I've gotten the same mark as her in Transfiguration."

Feeling left out from the tea talk, Lily glanced out the window. The sun was just setting, and the trees glowed from the light. A thick forest bordered the back of the house; it reminded her a lot of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. The Potter house was set in a normal neighbourhood of Muggles…rich Muggles. Besides that, there were three other magical families within walking distance.

Presumably, the talk about school had ended.

"Lily, we understand that you're good friends with Rebecca."

"Yes, I am," Lily said with a sweet smile. She dared a glance at James, who scowled a bit. She supposed he had wanted to answer for her again.

Rebecca Potter was literally the first friend Lily had ever had. Being James' cousin, she was Mr. and Mrs. Potter's niece. After Rebecca had befriended her, Lily had gotten the three best friends any girl could ever want... Rebecca, Katie, and Elle.

"Well, I told Rebecca you would be staying here, so she opted to come and stay with us for the last few days before school."

Although Lily was happy to hear that Rebecca would be staying in the Potter household, Mrs. Potter had said "the last few days before school". Lily was here for two weeks, so that meant she would have to put up with Sirius and James for eleven days. Eleven days alone with them.

Hurray, Lily thought.

"And speaking of friends," Mr. Potter said to James and Sirius. "Remus and Peter should be arriving tomorrow or the day after."

Crap.

"I hope you have the patience to put up with the four of them, Lily," Mrs. Potter said with a slight smile.

"Oh, I've put up with them for six years, I'm sure a couple weeks won't hurt much."

James' parents smiled. After a silence, Mrs Potter spoke up again.

"It's always nice to have a girl in the house again, dear. Thank you for coming."

"Your welcome, Mrs. Potter."

Another awkward silence followed. It was interrupted by the grandfather clock in the dining room chiming. Lily counted along with the clangs, happy for some noise to cut through the air.

There were eleven chimes altogether. James' mother jumped up at once, and started ushering them upstairs.

"Eleven o'clock! Oh dear, you all must be so tired! Off to bed now, and I'll see you when you all wake up."

Lily stood up dumbly. Eleven o'clock? The last time she looked at the time it was 9:45, and the sun was just finishing setting. But Mrs. Potter was right; Lily was extremely tired, and the conversation was making her steadily sleepier. She followed James and Sirius up the flight of stairs and they murmured their goodnights. James and Sirius walked towards the opposite end from where Lily was headed.

When Lily turned into her room, the boys' voices ceased to exist. The only noise she could hear was the faint rustling of leaves and the wind coming through her still open door. She shivered despite the sweater she wore, and she went to close the window. Just as she was latching it, though, her eyes wandered to a quick movement in the forest.

Lily wondered if she was dreaming; as she stared out her window, a black dog stared back. The dog was soon accompanied by a huge deer with antlers. Lily recognized the beast as a stag.

She rubbed her tired eyes. When she opened them again, the two animals were gone.

I must've been dreaming…maybe I should go to sleep…

She fell back onto her conjured bed, and promptly fell asleep.

A few hours later, her empty stomach growled loud enough to wake the dead. She sat up in the dark and groped for a light switch. Huffing in frustration, she remembered that the switch was on the other side of the room, so she swung her feet onto the floor and got up.

The carpet under her kept her feet warm, but the rest of her was shivering in the early morning hours. Cautiously, she walked over to the window and checked for any movements in the forest. There was only the wind in the trees.

Relieved, she felt her way across the room and turned on the light. She had to squeeze her eyes shut for a few seconds; the light hurt her eyes too much. Once her eyes had adjusted to the brightness, she opened her door and started heading towards the kitchen.

The grandfather clock read 3:17 a.m. Lily had expected to be the only person awake at this time. But Lily was wrong; she heard two distinct voices being carried out of the kitchen. They were loud, but you couldn't hear them if you were upstairs.

"Julie! I'm telling you, you can't let twenty kids into this house! Having James and his friends is enough trouble."

"It is not twenty kids, Peter. It's James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Lily Evans. You have to admit, it's nice to have a girl in the house. After so long without…"

Lily winced as she heard a fist smashing down on the table.

"Don't even talk about her, Julie. She's dead. Dead! Nothing is going to bring her back. And you're the only person in this fucking family that remembers her. James has forgotten and I've forgotten. Learn to forget, Julie!"

There was no reply. Lily could hear the faint whimpers of someone crying. What she wondered is why Mr. and Mrs. Potter were fighting. James' family seemed perfect the previous day.

Reality struck her. James' family was just as bad as her own family. He was hiding behind a happy face, but it was all for show. No wonder James always had a friend around; he couldn't stand to be in this house alone.

"She will come back, Peter, she will! We don't know that she's dead."

"She's as good as dead, Julie! She left us. Nothing will bring her back. She's dead to me, and she's dead to James." Lily winced as she heard the all too familiar sound of a glass plate shattering against the wall.

"No," James' mother moaned.

Whoever this girl might be, it's obvious that Mrs. Potter loved her a lot…

Lily felt a presence behind her, and she turned around. A hand clamped over her mouth before she could gasp in shock.

"Be quiet, Lily. Come with me," James hissed in her ear. Lily followed James upstairs, where his parents' argument died down to murmurs, and then to nothing. She was surprised when he didn't push her back to her own room, but dragged her along to his own room.

"Tell me what you heard," he said once she had sat down on his messy bed.

Instead, her stomach growled loudly. She shrugged at him sheepishly.

"First you'll have to get me some food," she replied.