So just moved into my apartment so it took me a bit longer than I had hoped to post this, but my classes this semester shouldnt take up too much time so hopefully I can continue with my once a week posting like I had said earlier in the summer. Thanks to everyone who has been following and please review! I love the feedback!

Chapter 9

As she stumbled out of the fireplace, she was relieved to see that no one else was home. Her mother would have had a heart attack and screamed again seeing her daughter emerge from the flames. Petunia would most likely have had Vernon with her and for that, Lily would have been expelled from Hogwarts for sure.

She brushed herself off as she dragged her bag up the stairs to her bedroom. To her surprise though, as she entered her room, an old Barn Owl sat outside her window with an envelope on its ankle. When she opened the window, the owl flew to the foot of her bed and held up its leg, but as she reached out for the letter, it snapped at her hand. She quickly recoiled and glared down at the bird. "Hello Sonia." Lily grumbled staring down at the bird as it glared up at her. She slowly turned and crossed the room to her own owl Pip's cage where she pulled out some treats. If there was one thing she knew about Marlene's owl, it was that if you didn't feed it, you weren't getting the post.

"Here you bloody chicken." She snarled as she threw the treats in front of the bird that immediately dove for them. Right as Lily had finished untying the envelope, Sonia finished her treats and snapped over at her hand and just missed. "I hate you." Lily growled as she slid open the window for the bird to exit. "I'll use Pip next time." She jumped as Sonia let out a loud squawk and flew by her out the window. Once the window was closed, she tore open the envelope in her hand and smiled at the picture that fell out.

Marlene stood there with her hand in the air, dressed as your typical tourist in France with a beret on her head and a striped shirt. But as Lily glanced over at Celia, she saw her gawking off in another direction. After a moment, Marlene stopped her pose and looked over at Celia and began shaking her shoulder. Of course she wasn't a fan of that and pulled Marlene's beret off her head and began hitting her with it.

Lily began to laugh at the picture but set it aside to pull out the other slip of paper inside.

My Darling Lily Flower,

Hey at least I didn't call you Ginger, right?
We are having a blast here in the city of love and let me tell you, it is a little too lovey dovey here for my liking. The other day, as Celia and I were walking through the plaza by the flat we are staying in, every couple we passed was snogging. One was even getting a little handsie. It was quite repulsive to see in public. I mean at least find a broom cupboard!

Anyway the flat we are staying in is beautiful and a short walk from the Eiffel Tower. I've only visited once. However, our lovely Celia has been there at least twice a week. She says she has been going to draw the landscape, but of course you know me, I followed her one night. CELIA FOUND A BOY LILY! I don't know his name, but she meets him by the Eiffel Tower every week and they go for walks. It was actually quite boring to watch. I don't believe he's from around here though because Celia doesn't speak a word of French.

But Lily it's so boring here without you! We miss you terribly! Celia is Ms. Attitude all the time and my parents don't let us do anything fun because apparently neither of us has the maturity. They would never have done this if you were here.

Enough about us though! What have you been up to this summer? I know you said a lot was going on with your family and that was why you couldn't come, but at least tell me you aren't just sitting home all day? Have you found anyone cool to hang out with this summer since we aren't around and Maxwell is in Greece? I hope you haven't been spending any time with the grease ball after the train ride. I may still castrate him for what he's done to you! You should also know that I am not kidding about this one bit! I'm sure if I asked Mary or Alice, they would gladly help as well.

Celia is too busy with her boy toy to write in your letter right now, but I will make sure she buys you something as a present to win back your love. Can you believe the summer is almost over already? Celia and I will be home in a few weeks. We wont be back in time to buy school supplies with you though. We will be shopping for all of that in Paris. But we will see you on the train ride back!

And I know you remembered how to handle Sonia because you wouldn't be reading these charming words if you didn't bribe the little winged nightmare.

Can't wait to hear from you my Liliness!
Love, Marlene

P.S. Sorry to hear about the Kenmare Kestrels. I know you would have loved to see them win.

Lily shook her head at how stupid the nicknames Marlene gave her sounded. It was surprising to her that it was so far into summer and she was just hearing from them now. They were clearly having more fun than Marlene was letting on, otherwise she would have received a letter a week and Lily would be charging her for bird treats for Sonia. It wasn't too shocking to Lily that Celia found a boy. She was usually quite jealous of how beautiful Celia was and how frequently she caught guy's attention. The only surprise was that for once, Celia reciprocated. Usually she was too focused on her studies and never even thought about dating. Of course, she could have just made a friend. Marlene was always known for over exaggerating everything so she could have just seen a friendship and made it something more in her mind. Most likely that was the case.

She turned to her desk, looking for some parchment to respond but as she picked up her quill, she began to think. What was she supposed to tell them?

'Glad you've been having a great time in France! I've spent my summer working in a diner to pay for school because my father has expensive hospital bills! Oh yeah! I never told you! My father's been in the hospital for years now. '

They didn't know about her father and their financial situation because of it. So clearly they wouldn't understand her reasons for having a job.

And when it came to the subject of who she's hung out with this summer, how was she supposed to answer that! How do you tell your best friends that you've suddenly become good mates with the guy who you've had a burning hatred for the past five years? Just nonchalantly write,

'Spent the past week sharing a tent and being great friends with James Potter. I wouldn't be surprised if we hung out more in the future even because these past few weeks have been really fun!'

Celia would probably have an aneurism from thinking so hard about how this all happened and Marlene would freak out on her for not telling her sooner.

With that in mind, she glanced back down at the paper and shook her head. There was no way she could think out a letter to write to them that wouldn't cause a freak out. She pushed herself back from her desk with Marlene's note in her hand and placed it down on her bedside table and glanced up at the clock. With the World Cup lasting a few days, Lily lost her vacation quite rapidly. She only had a few hours before her closing shift at the diner and figured she might want to shower since she hadn't moved from a chair for three days. Chills rushed down her body as she thought of how greasy she really was and ran for the bathroom to take the longest shower of her life.

X

Even though she had been gone a week, absolutely nothing in the diner had changed. The other waitresses were still stubborn slags who threw themselves at any attractive guy who walked in and her boss wouldn't stop calling her Ginger and being the pig headed git he was. Luckily for her however, the group of boys who used the diner as their usual spot, were nowhere in sight. As she put down a set of plates in front of a couple, the bell sounded behind her and she had to take a deep breath to keep from gritting her teeth. That noise was her absolute nightmare and one thing she wanted was to just explode it with a flick of her wand.

She could hear the usual waitresses mumbling excitedly behind the register, which meant only one thing. An attractive person had come into the diner. Lily didn't even bother to look where they sat because she knew that if it was her section, one of the girls would ask immediately. Not even a minute after she made it to the window to check on the food for her other table, one of the waitresses, Catherine, was at her side. "So Lily. Can I steal table twenty from you?" Lily smiled to herself for knowing exactly how the girls would react and just nodded her head. "Go right ahead." She smiled excitedly and tapped Lily's head like a child before skipping off towards the table.

Lily scowled after her but what she didn't expect however, was what she saw as she turned around with her food and saw who was at the table. Catherine stood their twirling her hair around her finger, staring down at the three boys. Occasionally brushing her hand across one of their shoulders. As her eyes drifted across the table, her eyes locked with his and she felt her breath catch in her throat as he winked. The crooked smile quickly crept across his face as he pushed himself up from the table and slid past Catherine. She did not look happy to see him ignore her, but immediately focused back on Sirius as James slipped past her.

James made his way over to the counter and leaned against it, smiling up at her. "You never told me you had a job. Love the uniform by the way." He laughed, running his hand through his hair. Usually Lily would want to grab his hand to stop him, but suddenly she couldn't help but like it. Goosebumps appeared on her arm as she shook it off and glared at him. "How did you find this place?" She whispered while glancing back over at Sirius and Remus luring over the other waitress Nicole.

"Christine and Dorea were having tea in the garden so we couldn't play Quidditch. They suggested we visit you at work and walk around the…" He paused for a moment and confusion could clearly be read on his face. " Strip mall? But so far we haven't seen any stripping. Sirius is quite upset." James laughed watching Lily shake her head in disgust. "Well he doesn't look too upset now." She whispered to James as they looked back to see Catherine sitting on Sirius' lap while Nicole was sitting next to Remus.

"He will be later when she learns he's only sixteen and won't go near him." She nodded slowly and then registered she had plates in her hand. "Why am I talking to you? I'm working!" She shook her head as she brought the food over to the table in the back corner. But as she turned around, James stood in her path. "When do you get out?" She was about to open her mouth when a shout sounded from the back room. "Ginger!" She jumped slightly and smiled again to herself as Nicole and Catherine leapt to their feet and rushed to their tables.

Her large boss emerged through the kitchen doors and glanced around till he found Lily brushing past James. "Ginger? Oh that's a good one." Sirius whispered up at James as he climbed back into the booth, completely unaware of the death glares being sent from Lily.

"Since were closing early, I'm letting Catherine and Nicole go now and I'll have you close up." Even though she was frustrated because she always closed up, she nodded and let him pass by. She began to let out a frustrated breath until she felt a hand on her shoulder and froze. "When you get out of work, you're coming out with us." He whispered into her ear. His warm breath caused chills to run to her spine making her shiver slightly. She slowly nodded as she glanced back at the table to see Sirius resting his head in his hands smiling and Remus giving her a small wave.

She moved out from under James hand before he could say anything more. A smiled spread across James' face as he registered her shaking under his hand. He made her nervous and he knew that brought him one step closer to her. "So you think Deirdre will find out that she's been spending time with us after tonight?" Remus asked as James glanced down at the menu in front of him. "Who cares? Now what's a Monte Cristo?" Sirius mumbled as he looked down at the menu in front of him. "Deep fried ham and cheese sandwich." Remus mumbled and watched as Sirius' jaw dropped as he frantically waved at Lily. "Bloody hell! What do you need now?" She sighed as she reached their table. "I want one!" Sirius repeated smashing his finger down against the menu. "Are you going to be a big boy and tell me what it is or does Uncle Remus need to order for you?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from every word she spoke.

"Hey!" Sirius pouted looking up at her. "He'll have a Monte Cristo." Remus laughed bringing a smile to everyone but Sirius' face. "I assume this is your second dinner, chubs?" Lily glanced over at Remus who smiled wide and nodded. "So nothing for you two then, correct?" Remus began laughing and glanced at James who nodded as well. "Right." As she walked back behind the counter, James and Remus glanced over at Sirius who was resting his head on the table pouting. "What now?" Remus groaned seeing the expression on his face. "I'm not fat!" James let out a small chuckle and began stacking the creams in the center of the table. "Merlin knows how you're not with the rubbish you eat!"