A/N: That was quicker than last time right? I'm not sure about this chapter, something about it is niggling at me, but I don't know how many times I've revised and edited it now, so I think this is as good as it gets. I'd describe it as pretty fluffy with just a slight hint of angst.

I appreciate everyone who has read, reviewed, followed or otherwise supported this story. Big thanks also to everyone who read and reviewed my Jily one-shot, And The World Turns Slower too.

You guys are awesome.

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8th August 1977, 11.45am

The voices from the kitchen weren't loud, but they were loud enough that Lily paused in the hallway instead of going straight in.

'I'm just not so sure about this Rose.' Her father's voice wasn't angry, but there was a low edge to it that Lily didn't think she recognised. William Evans wasn't an argumentative man, and he tended to allow himself to be led by his wife; if they were arguing, then it was unusual and she didn't want to hear it. She turned back towards the stairs and began to creep back towards them when the next words made her stop in her tracks.

'He's a teenage boy. They have…urges.' Her father said darkly, and Lily could just imagine him folding his arms emphatically as he sat in one of the kitchen chairs and scowled.

Lily's curiosity overwhelmed any scruples she might have had about eavesdropping on her parents' conversations, and she stayed frozen on the spot, ears straining to catch the rest of their words.

'Yes, he is a teenage boy. A teenage boy that you have no good reason to distrust. And she is a teenage girl that we have always, always trusted. There is nothing to worry about.' Her mother sounded unusually exasperated; this discussion must have been ongoing for some time then.

'Rose, it is one thing to trust our daughter, but it is another thing entirely to trust a boy with our daughter for an entire week without us.'

Lily stiffened. They were talking about her? And James, obviously. She stifled the frustrated groan that wanted to escape; they'd been through this the minute she'd come home from Marlene's, and she thought she'd satisfied any doubts they might have had during that little interrogation.

'William.' Lily recognised that tone, and winced on her father's behalf. 'If you have concerns about the nature of Lily's relationship with James, perhaps you should discuss it with her. But we have no reason to stop her going, and in any case James will be here to collect her very shortly, so it's too late now.'

Deciding that she might as well intervene after all, before there was any possibility of parental permission being revoked, Lily walked as loudly as she could possibly manage without being overly obvious along the hallway and into the kitchen.

'I'm packed, thought I'd make myself a cup of tea while I wait for James.' She smiled at her parents and flicked the kettle on, opening the cupboards for mugs and assorted tea-making paraphernalia.

'So just to be clear, our house is going to be placed on the…floo network?' Rose asked, hesitating over the still unfamiliar word.

'Uh huh.' Lily nodded absently as she fiddled with her mug. 'James' dad knows someone in pretty much every department at the Ministry of Magic, and he pulled some strings. The house is being connected just for an hour or so today and then it'll be reconnected for a short time when James brings me back. So you don't need to worry about strange wizards dropping in or anything in the meantime.'

'That sounds very responsible, don't you think William?' Rose narrowed her eyes at William, who managed to offer a grunt in response.

The conversation was cut off by a roaring sound coming from the lounge that made both her parents jump; Lily, however, recognised the sound immediately and rushed towards the living room, pausing at the doorjamb. James was standing in front of the fireplace, dusting himself off, and he glanced up when he caught sight of Lily and smiled widely at her. 'Don't mind me being a little eager to collect you do you?'

She responded by crossing the room, and hitting him full force at chest height. He staggered back a step or two at the impact, but he laughed anyway and scooped her up for a hug. 'I'm going to assume that was a no.'

Rose appeared in the doorway, and James acknowledged her with a smile and a nod over Lily's head as he lowered her back to the floor. Lily relinquished her grip on him and stepped away, a smile still fixed on her face. 'I'll get my stuff.'

'Want me to come grab your trunk?' Asked James, and Lily turned her smile back on him and gestured for him to follow her. It took them only a few moments to gather her belongings up from her room, and most of those were spent trying to get James back out of the room without him poking through her things.

When they arrived back in the lounge, Rose and William were both standing near the fireplace, and Lily bit her lip to keep from laughing at her father's rather petulant expression; presumably her mother had been the victor in the argument. Again. There were a few quick goodbyes, then Lily stepped into the fireplace before any possibility of her not going could be raised.

She looked at James for instruction, and he offered her a pouch of floo powder, and hesitated a little before he spoke. 'Potter Manor should do it.'

She smirked at his discomfort as she raised her hand. 'Rich boy.' The she dropped her handful of floo powder, spoke the words and disappeared in the green flame.

She landed in a large stone fireplace, and stepped quickly out onto a richly patterned red rug. She dusted herself off, and just as she was beginning to look around the room with interest James stepped out from behind her, dragging her trunk with him.

'Come on Evans, I'll show you your room.' He caught her hand with his free one and began to tug her along.

'What room are we in now?' she asked, still looking around at her surroundings as she obediently followed him towards the door. There were large bookcases against the wood-panelled walls, and a desk stood in the corner directly next to the sizeable window.

'Dad's study.' James answered. 'We tend to connect this room to the main floo network when we need to use it, because it's not connected to the house network. I guess you can't be aurors for as long as my parents were without being at least a little paranoid.'

'Oh.' She fell silent as they left the room and began to walk along a hallway towards a staircase. She didn't really know what to say; she might have joked about it with him before, but she hadn't really realised how wealthy his family were. Wealthy enough to have a house large enough to have its own internal floo network apparently.

James instinctively noticed her discomfort and pulled her a little closer to him. 'You aren't nervous are you? You've already met my family.'

'No.' Lily said, her voice wobbling only slightly. 'No.'

James glanced sideways at her, a little smile tugging at his lips. 'Okay, a little.' She admitted. 'This is all just a little more…overwhelming than I was expecting.'

James shrugged. 'It's just a house. I grew up here, so I guess I don't think of it as "the Manor". It's just my home.'

She didn't respond, and his eyes narrowed as he observed her posture, the tension in her shoulders, and thinking quickly he stopped them in the hallway alongside a big tapestry depicting Godric Gryffindor. He dropped her trunk and turned to face her properly. She was biting her lip in her nervousness, and he reached out a thumb and ran it along her lip, gently removing it from between her teeth. 'This has only hung here since the summer after my second year; my mother hates it, but it is a necessary evil.'

He smiled at her confused look, and he turned away from her to pull the tapestry aside, revealing an enormous crack, surrounded by scorch marks. She looked a little startled, and he supposed the scar on the wall was incongruous with the rest of the house.

'Sirius and I were playing indoor Quidditch, but we were using Filibuster fireworks instead of a quaffle…that way you have a time limit see, you have to score before it goes off. We managed to enchant these hoops to work a bit like portkeys, if you get the firework through it, it's magically transported outside and it goes off no harm done. And we were usually pretty good at banishing them just before they were about to go off anyway, but we misjudged one, and …yeah.'

He trailed off, his free hand running sheepishly through his hair while his other held the tapestry, and she looked at him incredulously. 'Indoor Quidditch? On, like, actual broomsticks? Actually flying around indoors?'

If anything, James managed to look a little more shamefaced. 'Yeah.'

'And you decided that magical fireworks would be a good addition to this already ridiculous game?'

'Well…' he dropped the tapestry and folded his arms in an attempt to prevent his fingers from continuing to rake through his hair. 'We were bored. And thirteen. And more than a little daft without Remus to point out our stupidity.'

Lily stepped forward and pushed the tapestry aside to run her hands over the scarred wall. 'Why didn't you get rid of it?'

'Don't think we didn't try.' Charlus' voice was surprisingly loud in the hallway as he approached them, and it made them both jump. 'Bloody Filibusters. In the end we just stuck that up over it until we could think of a way to fix it, then we never got round to finding a permanent solution. Every now and then Dorea walks past the tapestry and complains about how ugly it is, but still, we never seem to find the time to fix it.'

He stopped alongside his son and ruffled his hair, smiling at Lily as he did so. 'Nice to see you again Lily. Glad you're here - James has been pining.'

'Dad.' James rolled his eyes and hissed the words out, the flush beginning to creep up his neck.

'Well, I'm glad I could ease his suffering.' Lily answered somewhat shyly, and Charlus' lips twitched. He moved past them, heading towards his study that they had so recently vacated, and patted her on the shoulder as he went. 'You're a sweet girl, and much too good for him if I may say so.'

'Oh, Merlin.' James fixed his eyes determinedly on the ceiling and refused to look at either his father or Lily, the latter of who was trying to stifle her giggles. 'Your room is this way.' He picked up her trunk and began to walk ahead of her, still facing resolutely forward, and she followed in his wake, her eyes darting back to the tapestry as they went.

For some strange reason, she felt much more relaxed now, and some little part of her was all lit up inside because she knew that had been his exact intention; to make her see this house as his home, rather than some scary ancestral manor house.

It was just a sodding metaphor for James Potter wasn't it, this house? All that unexpected warmth and depth under a shiny surface. She cocked her head to one side and observed him as he walked along in front of her; to be fair, the surface had its good points anyway.

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10th August 1977, 1.40pm

Lily wandered towards the kitchen, following the directions of the house elf who'd told her that James could be found in there. She wasn't sure which house elf; the Potter's had more than one, and she found it difficult to keep track of them because they were usually so discreet that you didn't see them unless you called for one. It had been sheer fluke that she'd managed to catch one of them just as they were collecting the laundry from her room.

As she walked slowly along, she realised she could hear the sound of the wireless and James singing along to a song she didn't know. She followed the sound of his voice and took a few steps into the kitchen and stopped, dumbstruck.

James was carelessly and artlessly cooking.

James Potter. Was cooking.

He moved around the kitchen with an odd sort of grace, similar to how he moved on the Quidditch field; it was a sort of economy of movement, as if he always knew exactly where he was going to need to be next. He tasted something from the pot bubbling on the stove, then threw a careless pinch of salt in and followed that with a quick splash of wine from a bottle on the counter, all done with unthinking finesse and little logical reasoning from what she could see. He turned to pick something up from behind him and caught sight of her, face breaking into a smile as he took in her expression.

'You look like you just took a bludger to the head.'

He turned back to the pot and added a few sprigs of whatever greenery he'd just picked up, before he picked up the wine bottle and filled one of the glasses on the counter. He turned and held it out to her, picking up another half full glass from alongside him and swallowing a mouthful.

She took the glass and tentatively tasted the wine. 'Are you supposed to drink cooking wine?'

James contrived to look offended. 'It's a very good wine actually. I wouldn't cook with something I wouldn't drink.'

Lily giggled. She tried not to, but she just couldn't help it. His eyebrows rose as he took another calm drink of his wine. 'Something amuse you?'

'You're cooking. The muggle way.'

James looked around him exaggeratedly. 'So I am. Excellent powers of deduction Miss Evans.'

'You can cook.'

James paused mid-sip. 'You know, I can't help noticing the rather repetitive nature of our conversation at the moment.'

'Sorry.' Lily managed another mouthful of her wine. It was rather nice actually; light and fruity, with just a hint of sweetness under the bite of the alcohol. 'It's just…I didn't know you cooked. I mean, you have house elves.'

'Yes we do.' James turned back to his pot and gave it a few quick stirs. Seemingly happy with its progress, he turned the heat down and turned his attention back to Lily. 'And they are never exactly happy with letting me cook, but they do always let me.'

She was still looking at him curiously, and his mouth turned up at the corners. 'I like to cook sometimes. It's relaxing, something I can do without thinking about it too much.'

Lily's brow furrowed. 'How can you cook without thinking about it? Don't you need ingredients, quantities? Isn't there a recipe?'

James smirked at her. 'How do you make a new potion Lily? You experiment. You take what you know, and add whatever you feel is right. Sometimes it doesn't come out like you think it will, but it's much more fun that way.'

'I can't do that.' She confessed quietly. 'It frustrates me not to know what I'm going to end up with; I want to know that at the end of it all, I've done it right.'

James laughed. 'Well, when it comes to cooking, there is no right. There's only edible, and not. And I'm very confident that this will be edible.' He took a large swallow of his wine and reached for the bottle to top up.

She took another little sip of her wine and put the glass down on the counter. 'Isn't it a little early for alcohol?'

He shrugged and took another melodramatically large gulp, grinning at her when she laughed. 'It's five o' clock somewhere. Besides, plenty of people have a drink with lunch. I solemnly swear that I will not fly a broomstick, attempt to apparate or allow myself to be put in charge of caring for small children.'

He turned back to his pot and stirred again. 'Come here and tell me what you think of this.'

She moved towards him and he turned with a spoon held out. She hovered uncertainly just out of reach.

'Why ask me? How will I know if it's right?'

He reached out his free hand and held it palm up for hers. 'There isn't a right, remember? Just tell me whether you like it or not.'

She slipped her hand into his and allowed him to pull her over to the stove and she tentatively took a taste of whatever was on the spoon.

'It's good. What is it?'

He laughed. 'White wine chicken soup.' He took another quick taste himself. 'And it is pretty good actually. Maybe needs more garlic.' He realised that she was staring at him. 'What?'

'Nothing. Nothing. It's just…, I'm sorry, James Potter: domestic god?' she began to giggle helplessly, and he frowned at her in mock anger before reaching out and smearing the contents of the spoon across one cheek.

'Oi!' She reached a hand up to rub her face, and he grinned happily at her.

'Here, let me get that for you.' He leaned toward her with his tongue out, and she batted him away and moved haughtily towards the sink. She splashed water on her face and wiped at the sticky smear with her hands while he laughingly turned back to his soup pot and lifted it from the heat. She looked down at the soapy suds in the sink, and the dishcloth floating on the surface and the corners of her mouth lifted in a wicked grin.

The dishcloth hit James in the side of the face and slid down, falling onto his shoulder and then landing on the floor with a splat. He turned his head very slowly towards her, a streak of soapy water beginning to dry on his face. 'Really?'

Lily's giggles were almost uncontrollable now, and she was biting her lip hard as she tried to keep them in. James looked at the wall directly ahead of him for a moment. 'Right then.'

He turned quickly and crossed to her in two swift steps, then bent down and slung her over one shoulder in one easy motion. His arm braced her legs against his chest while her upper body hung helplessly down his back, though to be fair she was laughing too hard to have struggled with him anyway.

She was aware that he had stepped out of the back door into the gardens and was now marching them across the grounds, but she had no idea what he was up to until she caught a glimpse of the ornamental lake.

'James don't you dare!'

He kept walking, giving no indication that he had heard her, though she was positive that he was grinning.

'I mean it James, if I had my wand I swear…'

'Ah, but you don't.' He said cheerfully. 'And neither do I, so we're essentially muggles right now, and I'm afraid I'm a lot stronger than you. Sorry love.'

They'd reached the edge of the lake by now, and Lily dug both her hands into the back of his shirt and held on tightly. 'You wouldn't James Potter, you wouldn't dare!'

'Daring me now are you? You don't know me at all do you sweetheart?' And with that one final question, he threw her into the lake in one heave.

She surfaced quickly, spluttering and cursing, and he was doubled over with laughter at her bad-tempered profanity. When he finally managed to get a grip on himself, she was treading water and glaring at him.

'Prick.'

'Ah, come on Evans it's a hot day. You can't tell me you're not cooler in there.'

'Cooler? I'm bloody freezing! If you think it's such a nice, relaxing experience, why don't you jump in here?' She glared at him and he smiled back at her.

'Alright then.'

'What?' It was the only word she managed to get out before James had stripped off his shirt, thrown off his glasses and dived into the lake. He hit the water just alongside her and sent a tidal wave crashing over her head. She'd just regained her bearings again when she felt hands tug on her ankles and pull her sharply back under the water.

He let her go almost immediately, and by the time she reached the surface again he was treading water and waiting for her.

'Are you mental?' She growled at him, and when he laughed at her, she used her hands to splash water over his head.

'Come on Lily.' He caught her by the hand and pulled her towards him, smiling at the sight of her hair, rendered a few shades darker by the water, plastered to the side of her face and watching her lips tremble slightly as they floated together in the frigid water. 'Relax a little.'

'Oh, you want to relax Potter?' She lunged at him, caught him around the neck, and pulled them both back under.

They swam easily around in the cold water, laughing as they splashed each other or as one of them managed to catch the other unawares and dunk them again. When they eventually began to feel the cold a little too much, they swam lazily to the side of the lake, where Lily reached up to the grassy bank and tried to lift herself out.

Her grip slipped and she fell backwards, crashing into James who automatically caught her. Her back was pressed against his front, and despite the chill of the water, she could feel the warmth of his bare skin through the thin cotton of her soaked shirt.

'Here, I got you.' James turned her gently round until she was facing him, grabbed her hips and lifted her bodily out of the water and set her down on the banking, her legs still dangling in the water.

'Thanks.' She smiled down at him, still treading water in front of her, and it struck her how different he looked without his glasses; still indisputably James, but somehow less himself than normal.

'You're welcome.' He braced his arms on the banking beside her and heaved himself out, biceps tightening as he lifted his weight with his arms. He sat down beside her and grinned.

'Told you it was relaxing.'

'Oh, shut up.' She answered good-naturedly, and his smile didn't falter, but he caught the slight shiver that ran through her as they sat in the sun. He reached over to grab his shirt and draped it carelessly over her shoulders before wrapping one arm around her and tucking her into his side, feeling her head come to rest on his shoulder. He rubbed his hand gently up and down her arm, trying to warm her just a little.

'It's so pretty here.' Lily murmured, looking out across the landscaped grounds of the Manor.

James glanced around. Truth be told, he was so accustomed to his surroundings that he rarely paid them any attention anymore, but he had to allow that she was right, the gardens were lovely; just landscaped enough to be perfectly beautiful, but not so overdone that they lost all sense of wildness.

He looked back down at her, only able to see the top of her drenched head. 'You're prettier.'

She tilted her head back to look at him and grinned. 'I bet you say that to all the girls you throw in lakes.'

His spare hand came up to push her hair back from her face as he smiled back down at her, suddenly realising just how close those lips were to his; he could just move his head very slightly and be kissing her, it really was just a matter of centimetres. He felt his head begin to move almost of its own accord, and his lips had almost brushed against hers when a shout came from the kitchen.

'Prongs, can I eat this soup?'

He groaned and dropped his forehead down to rest against hers. 'It would probably only take me ten, maybe twenty seconds to murder him.'

Lily snorted and stood up, wringing out her shirt. 'You'd miss him. Let's go and make sure he's not eating all the soup.'

'I wouldn't miss him that much.' James grumbled, but nonetheless he took her offered hand and pulled himself to his feet, and they made their way back towards the kitchen, hands still entwined.

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15th August 1977, 9.15pm

'Hey.'

James jerked upright into a sitting position at the sound of the voice and turned to see Lily standing in his open doorway; his face spilt into a smile almost immediately.

'Hey. You done then?'

She came into his room and smiled back. 'Yeah, all packed up. Not that I exactly had much to pack after a week, but…' She trailed off and shrugged, and his smile grew wider at her slightly sheepish expression.

'But you have to prepare for everything with military precision. And that includes packing your things to go home in advance, even when you have practically nothing to pack and you could quite easily have done it tomorrow.'

Lily pouted. 'Well, when you say it like that it sounds mental.'

He laughed and held out a hand to her; she walked to him without hesitation and slid her hand into his, allowing him to pull her down onto his bed beside him.

And this was something he'd never thought would happen: Lily Evans sitting on his bed with him, smiling at him as she held on to his hand. He could hold his hand out to Lily Evans, and she would come to him. How had any of this happened?

He realised then that she was waiting for him to say something, her head cocked on one side slightly as she looked at him curiously. He stared at her for a moment before he blurted out the first thing in his head, because right then it seemed like the only thing.

'I don't want you to go.'

Her face changed at his words, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of the new expression. His nerves began to jangle as he watched her and waited, and his mind went into overdrive as he began to strive for words to fix whatever mistake he'd made, to make her happy with him again.

His thought process was cut short when she launched herself at him. Her arms locked around his neck and her lips landed on his, and the impact of her body knocked him over backwards until he was flat out on the bed with her stretched out on top of him. It took his brain one shocked second to register what was happening and respond to her proximity, then his arms curled around her waist and his lips moved against hers and everything was Lily. And she was damn near smothering him, but he didn't care, and the thought of moving her from her current position didn't get a second's consideration. He'd die first, right here and now, a happy man; give him a shovel, he'd dig the grave himself.

He'd never get over how she felt when she was pressed up against him, how she tasted, how much of a complete bloody miracle it was that they'd overcome all their past disagreements and problems to get here. Lily Evans was in his arms and she belonged there, if only she would accept it.

Lily's thought process was nowhere near as coherent as James'. She only knew that he'd looked straight at her and said those words with complete and total sincerity - and she would have sworn that her heart had stopped for just that one moment if she hadn't still been able to hear her blood pulsing through her head - and in that moment she had to kiss him. So she'd flung herself at him, and now she could feel his fingertips sinking into her back, could feel his tongue touch hers, could smell the heat rising from his skin, and she wasn't letting him go…

'Prongs, have you…in the name of Merlin, can't you at least shut the fucking door?'

Sirius's yelp sent Lily rolling off James, and she landed on her back alongside him on the bed, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling. She refused to look over at the door, because she knew exactly what Sirius' face looked like. Smug.

'I knew it. I fucking knew it.' He even sounded smug. 'Prongs, I am your best mate and I can't believe you didn't tell me this was going on. I knew you were holding out on me. How could you tell Moony and not me?'

Lily rolled slightly to her side at the sound of James' exasperated groan, and she watched him push himself up on his elbows and stare across the room at his friend. 'Padfoot, for the last time, I haven't spoken to Remus about anything regarding Lily, alright? Anything he knows, he's worked out for himself. And the reason I haven't told any of you anything yet is…well, because I don't know what to tell you, frankly. It's complicated.'

Lily lifted her head just enough to catch Sirius' frown. 'How complicated can it be, given that I just walked in on you two practically ripping each other's clothes off?'

Lily sat bolt upright at that. 'We were not! And for your information, I was the one who told Remus about New Year's Eve!'

'What?' James sat up as well and turned to look at her, and she felt a little bit guilty for not telling him that she'd spoken to one of his best friends about what was happening between them; after all, he'd kept it secret from them all apparently, and she knew he'd done that for her.

'I'm sorry. I thought he would have said something to you, or I would have told you myself that I'd spoken to him. I just needed some advice from someone who wouldn't leap to conclusions.' She reached out for his hand, trying to convey her apologies to him, and she was relieved when he returned the gentle squeeze.

'That's okay.' James' lip twitched a little. 'And here I thought he was just becoming incredibly perceptive.'

'Missing the point here.' Sirius interrupted. 'We've established that Moony knows about New Year's Eve, Lily told him, that's lovely. What does Moony know?'

'I'm going to leave you to it.' Lily began to slide towards the edge of the bed, but James' hand tightened on her wrist. She turned to look at him, and gave him a little smile. 'We can talk about this another time yeah?'

He looked at her, and she couldn't help the little stab of guilt at the expression that flickered briefly over his face; she hated that it was her reluctance to discuss this, her fear of letting herself feel all these terrifying things for him that put that look of disappointment in his eyes time and again, but she couldn't help it.

His fingers lifted from her skin, as she'd known they would, allowing her to move off his bed and towards the door. She paused in the doorway and looked back at him with a faint smile, before scowling at Sirius and disappearing down the hall.

He watched her go and turned back to face James who was once again sprawled on his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. 'Want to spill your guts Prongs?'

'No.' James kept his eyes resolutely upwards.

'Oh, come on! How come I don't get to know what's going on?'

'You're a prick.'

Sirius landed on the bed alongside James. 'Look, I'm sorry for interrupting what I'm sure was a particularly fantastic snog, but how the hell was I supposed to know? I wasn't exactly aware that you and the lovely Lily were on snogging terms.'

James' hands came up to cover his eyes. 'We're not. I mean, we are…but we're not…we're not together. We're not dating or anything, we've just had…moments.'

'Moments.' Repeated Sirius expressionlessly, and James nodded as he scrubbed his hands over his face.

'Snogging moments.' Said Sirius in that same flat tone as he turned his head to face James, who gave him a one-shoulder shrug and a helpless smile. Sirius huffed his exasperation. 'How about you start at the beginning Prongs?'

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22nd August 1977, 9.30am

Still in her pyjamas and with no intention of getting dressed anytime soon, Lily walked into the kitchen and flung herself down on a chair, glaring around the room. For a moment, she almost wished Petunia was here, or maybe her cousin Melissa; she could do with a fight. A real screaming row, anything to get her out of this stupid mood.

She drummed her fingers on the table edge while she tried to decide whether she could be bothered to make herself anything for breakfast; eventually she settled on just a glass of juice and she rose and opened the fridge.

No juice. Obviously.

She slammed the door shut and slumped back down in her chair, pulling her wand from her pocket and turning it over and over and rolling it between her fingers. As she looked down at her fidgeting hands, she noticed the sheet of paper that had fallen from her dressing gown pocket when she had pulled her wand out.

Picking it up, she smoothed it out and began to read the letter again.

Lils,

Sweetie, under no circumstances are you to attempt to write James a letter about all this; you absolutely cannot have that kind of talk by letter.

You cannot discuss your potential relationship in a letter.

Have I made that clear enough?

You need to get your head around all this, and quickly. According to Sirius, who (while utterly useless when it comes to most things) is an excellent spy, James has been moping a bit since you left, but he's confident that James isn't upset with you at all. He just misses you. And we both agree that you shouldn't worry about the fact that he hasn't mentioned anything in his letters; he probably doesn't want to seem like he's pressuring you.

Lily, if you like him, go out with him. It's a fairly straightforward concept. Stop overthinking it.

I'll be in Diagon Alley one day next week if you want to meet up. I'll bring Alice and you can confess your dirty little sins to her as well. You might as well have jumped him in a broom cupboard you little tart.

Love you

Marlene

She jumped when an owl flew in and landed on the back of the chair next to her; clapping her hand over her heart, she gave herself a moment for her breathing to return to normal before she turned her attention to the owl, which she recognised as one of the standard brown Hogwarts owls.

She took her letter and the owl flew off before she could offer him anything. She ran her hands over her letter and smiled; it didn't matter that she got one every year, it still felt a little bit like a miracle.

She popped the letter open, frowning slightly when she realised that it seemed fatter than normal, and pulled out the parchment. The usual list of uniform and textbook requirements and an additional letter, addressed to her, but in handwriting she didn't recognise. She put the other papers to one side and opened the letter, her eyes widening as she skimmed the few brief lines.

Dear Miss Evans,

It is an absolute pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as Head Girl for the coming year. Your badge is enclosed with this letter.

I am sure you are aware of the duties of the role, but I would like to ask you to meet with me at 8:30pm on 1st September so I may briefly discuss them with you. The password for my office is "flossing stringmints.'

Please meet with the Head Boy and prefects on the Hogwarts Express to organise patrols and to welcome the incoming fifth years. You may use this opportunity to discuss anything else you feel it necessary to cover with the prefects.

I look forward to seeing you on 1st September, and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, and to wish you every success in the role.

Yours

Prof. Dumbledore

With trembling hands, Lily tipped the envelope upside down and gasped when a badge fell out onto the table.

Head Girl.

She'd never really thought she'd get it. Yes, she was a good student, and a diligent prefect, but she'd always thought that in the end the role would go to someone more…traditionally expected. But if there was anyone who would disregard blood status and family ties in favour of a more radical approach, it was Dumbledore.

She picked the badge up and rolled it between her fingers, watching the light catch it. Head Girl. She could only hope that the Head Boy was bearable. The odds were on her side. Besides Snape - dear Lord, don't let it be Snape –the other seventh year prefects were Remus, Leslie Cropper from Hufflepuff and Steven Thomas from Ravenclaw. Remus seemed unlikely; his lycanthropy could be an issue there, and she couldn't imagine both heads being Gryffindors. She also couldn't see Dumbledore giving the position to Snape when he'd made his feelings about muggleborns so very clear. So Leslie or Steven then, with Steven being the more likely since he was more confident and Leslie was rather shy; could be a whole lot worse. Steven could be a pompous arse, but at least he wasn't a bigot.

Head Girl. What a weird year this was turning out to be.

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

22nd August 1977, 10.45am

'Quidditch later mate?' James turned to see Sirius framed in his doorway, Remus standing a few steps behind him.

'Sure.' James smiled at them, but he knew they were unconvinced by it. They all knew that he'd been a little down since Lily had gone, and he was grateful that they both knew what was going on now, so at least they weren't pushing him on it.

He just wished he was more certain of what was going on. He turned back to look at the cluster of photos on his wall again, his eyes seeking out the same one he always ended up looking at: the one of them dancing at Petunia's wedding.

There she was, pressed right up close as he held her to him, her fingers clutching onto his back and the side of her face resting against his chest. They were so right together, the two of them, so perfect that he truly didn't see what she was afraid of. This past week, ever since she'd kissed him in his room, he felt like he was closer than ever before to getting everything he wanted. So why did he feel like he was holding onto it by his fingertips at the same time?

He started when he realised that Sirius and Remus had joined him in his room, Sirius stretched lazily across his bed and Remus standing just behind him with his hands in his pockets.

'Where's Pete?' He asked, suddenly realising he hadn't seen him since breakfast.

'Stupid question.' Said Sirius. 'He's in the kitchen. Your house elves are spoiling him again.'

James rolled his eyes. For some inexplicable reason, the Potter house elves absolutely adored Peter and they took every opportunity to ply him with food, something which he hardly resisted. Sometimes he thought that was the only reason Peter ever agreed to come and stay with him.

'You're right it was a stupid question.' James turned his back on the photos, ignoring Remus' sympathetic look and slumped down in the chair by the fireplace. 'So, Quidditch?'

'We thought it might take your mind off things.' Said Remus, sitting on the edge of James' bed, well out of the reach of Sirius' idly kicking feet.

'I don't have anything on my mind.' James countered, folding his arms and pointedly not looking anywhere near the photographs.

'More like you have a one-track mind.' Sirius sounded amused. 'If you've spent more than two minutes at a time thinking about anything other than Lily over this last week, I'll kiss my mother.'

'Shut up Padfoot.'

'Yeah, shut up Padfoot.' Remus glowered at him and Sirius laughed, but he did stop talking, and Remus turned his concerned eyes back to James.

'Anyway, on another note your Hogwarts letter arrived.' Remus held out the large brown envelope and James reached out for it, turning it over in his hands. He opened it and pulled out the booklist, which he scanned then discarded before turning his attention to the smaller envelope that had been tucked in with it.

'What are these?' He asked as he scanned the unfamiliar writing and turned the envelope to open it.

Remus shrugged. 'No idea. I didn't have a letter in mine. Padfoot?'

'Nope.' Said Sirius cheerfully, pushing himself into a seated position. 'I was hoping for a love note from dearest Minerva, but alas no.'

'Shut up you dopey bastard.' Remus sounded exasperated, but since it had raised a laugh from James, a feat in itself at the moment, he let it lie.

James finally managed to pull the piece of parchment free of its envelope, knocking the larger Hogwarts envelope to the floor; something small and shiny rolled out of it and Remus bent to pick it up, his eyes widening as he looked at the item in his hands. Sirius stared over his shoulder at it, and James turned his flustered eyes on to the parchment in his hand.

Dear Mr Potter,

This may come as somewhat of a surprise to you, but you have been selected for the post of Head Boy for the coming year. Your badge is enclosed with this letter. I have every confidence in your ability to fulfil this role appropriately.

Despite never having been a prefect, I am sure you are aware of the majority of the duties of the role, but I would like to ask you to meet with me at 8:30pm on 1st September so I may briefly discuss them with you. The password for my office is "flossing stringmints.'

Please meet with the Head Girl and prefects on the Hogwarts Express to organise patrols and to welcome the incoming fifth years. You may use this opportunity to discuss anything else you feel it necessary to cover with the prefects.

I look forward to seeing you on 1st September, and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, and to wish you every success in the role.

Yours

Prof. Dumbledore

He lowered the letter and looked back at his two friends, both staring at him across the room. 'Well, fuck.'

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

A/N: Okay, some of you who have read Turning Tables as well may have noticed that I have a thing about James cooking. I refuse to apologise, men who can cook are sexy. Gentlemen, take note.

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