A/N Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and were so positive!

Awkward

Lily woke up with a sharp jab of pain to her head. She wondered why, and then remembered last night. Her eyelids closed, and she sighed plaintively. As usual, James had annoyed her and she had lost her temper. Maybe it was the contrast of the amusing day to the irksome evening.

Lily chewed her thumbnail as she recalled Sirius's speech. He told them both that they had the power to ruin their time. Lily flinched as she thought of his examples which were equally gruesome. Lily almost relished the idea of wrecking James' holidays and seeing the look of pain on his face.

Then she remembered James' look of adoration, which had been plastered on his face every day since they had met. She remembered James' look of anger when Severus had called her a Mudblood and finally she remembered his look of hurt when she told him that she would never love him, that he repulsed her, that he was a stupid idiot. Lily didn't want to hurt him like she had before. She just wanted to work out what she felt with no pressure.

"Lily!" She turned her head towards the door, which had a magical lock on. The voice was worried and slightly annoyed, with a hint of glee. Oh dear. Sirius. "Lily, come out." She buried under her covers and ignored the voice. She curled into a tight ball to block out the dreadful sound. "Lily, don't make us blast the door; Charlotte and Matthew will be annoyed." Lily could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"We could just repair it before they saw..." Oh dear God. This day was going from awful to insane. James was also there in the hallway, probably looking forward to seeing Lily in her pyjamas.

"Nah, they'd hear the crash mate." Sirius was probably grinning, and his dark eyes were almost definitely staring at the dark wooden door frame. Lily peeked out of the duvet and gently slid one leg towards the carpet. She gingerly stood up and padded over to the mirror to see what the damage was. Well, it could've been a lot worse. Her eyes were a little red from where she had made them even wider, to glare better and her cheeks were slightly flushed. A little bit of foundation and blusher would fix that, no problem. When she had finished, with one last defiant streak of pink, she slipped on her dressing gown.

"Lily!" James was practically yelling by this time. She sighed and opened the door with her wand. They looked stunned to see her standing there, hands on her hips and not looking at all dishevelled.

"Yes?" Lily said impetuously.

"We…uh…" James itched the back of his neck and looked to Sirius for an answer.

"We were looking to tell you breakfast is over, so you'll have to have cereal." Sirius said smoothly. His eyes twinkled and a smirk played on his lips, Lily longed to slap it off.

"You didn't need to wake me up and tell me that." She hissed. James was disappointed with Lily's reaction; he had hoped that she would get over last night and look towards having a decent holiday.

"Sorry for taking the trouble." James snapped and stalked off downstairs. Sirius looked pained with both of them and gave Lily a disapproving look.

"You really should forgive him, you know." He chided, like a mother to her children.

"Oh don't lecture me, you're no saint." She said and slammed her door. Sirius stood in the corridor wondering what would happen if both of them refused to talk to each other.

James ran out into the garden, not caring about flowers or herbs. His head was buzzing like an angry wasp was trapped inside. He ran to the broom shed and looked for his broom, which he cherished. The Nimbus 1989 glinted in the sun, and the well-worn seat looked inviting. He swooped into it and pushed hard off the ground. The broom went its own way as James was too furious to think. Before he knew it, he was out of Ignotus Manor and was even out of Surrey. Green countryside flew by, filled with trees and lakes that threatened to throw him off.

Suddenly, James' feet brushed water. He looked down and noticed the English Channel, glistening and blue. James stretched his arms back and whooped like a madman. He smiled like the cheshire cat and finally felt free. He forgot Lily, he forgot school and he forgot his life. All he could think of was the fresh air and the sharp wind that took his breath away.

Lily trooped downstairs to see that Matthew had already left for work and Charlotte was sitting at the kitchen table doing a crossword. She saw a little pile of pancakes in an empty space, with a chair before it. A surge of gratitude welled up inside her as she thought of Charlotte making her life here as easy as possible, and she was probably going to break the non-existent heart of her son.

"Morning, dear." Charlotte called from behind the paper. Lily sat down and immediately started piling sugar onto the pancake.

"Morning Charlie, thank you so much for the pancakes. They're my favourite!" Lily cut it up into little pieces and started popping them into her mouth. She closed her eyes as the sweet taste spread through her mouth.

"Rosie did mention your love of sweet things." Charlotte said, regarding the now half-empty sugar jar. Lily grinned and flicked her hair out of her eyes. She ate in silence until the curiosity of where the boys were overcame her.

"Where are the boys?" Lily said, trying to make it sound as if she was careless but really her heart was pounding in her mouth. What if James had hurt himself? No, Charlotte wouldn't be here then. What if the boys were planning to do something horrible? Lily shuddered.

"Oh, Sirius is in his room and James has gone flying."

"Flying?" Lily said incredulously.

"Mmm…he does that when he's angry." Charlotte looked up at Lily.

"Oh." Lily's mind searched desperately for something else to talk about. "Where to?"

"Hmmm…well the farthest he's gone is Germany, and that was when he was really angry." Charlotte didn't mention that it was because Lily had told him so plainly how she felt about him, two years ago. "So I would guess he's gone around France?"

Lily stared at her in amazement. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "F-France?"

"Yes, dear." Charlotte shook her head ruefully and carried on with her crossword. "2 down. Author of the world-wide best selling 'Hogwarts: A History. Lives in Godric Hollow. Hmm…Lily?"

"France?!"

"Yes, dear." Charlotte said a little more impatiently. "I'm sorry, I don't know Hogwarts: A History as well as you. Who's the author?"

"Bathilda Bagshot. Is he OK?" Lily was gasping for breath, and was amazed at how laid back Charlotte seas.

"Lily, dear. James is Quidditch Captain, he's been playing Quidditch since he was six, and he's on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Yes he's ok."

"Right." Lily said through gritted teeth. She ate the other two pancakes and left quickly. "Thank you for breakfast Charlie."

Sirius was lying on his bed, with a magical mirror in front of him. He said different peoples names repeatedly in case they were 'online' as the muggles put it. He was frustrated with James for running off again and leaving him along with Lily. Sirius was missing seeing other people, and he really hated being the third-wheel in their fluctuating relationship.

He could't understand why the two didn't just kiss. Yesterday they had come close but then Lily had gone and yelled at James for playing around. In his various relationships, he would probably go ahead and snog her, and then dump her the next day. Few girls had survived Sirius and his ego for long.

"Marlene McKinnon." Sirius called into the reflective surface. Suddenly it shimmered and left a girls face behind it, who was smiling. Sirius gawked for a moment and then smirked naughtily. "Heya Marl."

The face raised one eyebrow and tossed her thick brown hair. "Hey Sirius. How ya doing?" Sirius gazed into her chocolate eyes for a moment, and then answered.

"Oh…good." He said vaguely. "'Um…you?"

"Babies screaming, cats yowling, dogs barking. Great." Marlene could tell Sirius was thinking of something else, but she didn't want to push him. That would result in stubborn, stand-offish, arrogant Sirius which was not a good idea.

"Huh. Well, all quiet here."

"Where's James?"

"He's…out."

"You live in the middle of nowhere." At this Marlene rolled her eyes and stared directly into Sirius' dark grey eyes.

"Flying."

"OK. How's he?"

"Not amazing."

"Right."

"He's angry with Lily."

"Lily? She's here?" Marlene was interested that her best friend was staying with her kind-of boyfriend and his family.

"Yup."

"So…let me guess. She's angry with James cause he did something stupid, like try to kiss her, and he's annoyed because she won't?"

"Something like that."

Marlene was now impatient and urged Sirius on. "And? Please do divulge."

"Yesterday they got off, like, they were nearly kissing. Then it was like, lunch so we went inside. In the evening me and James were messing around and he had put on the 'Levicorpus' hex on me, for a joke. Lily came in and yelled at him and then they had a proper argument. I then pointed out that we each could make our holidays miserable for each other. In the morning Lily was really bitchy and wouldn't just forget about it, though James was trying to be normal about it. So now he's flying and Lily's off being sulky." Sirius said wearily. All through Marlene was nodding her head and making ah noises.

"Ok, so I think I understand a little bit, from being Lily's best friend." She tied her hair back into a ponytail and grinned a little bit. "So, Lily doesn't know what to think. She's spent the last six years hating James' guts and rejecting every move he's made on her." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of which there were many. Lily now feels she kind of likes him, and she wants to go out with him, but she can't because she hates him. Then there's James, who obviously likes her, and she's staying in his house. He probably thinks that because Lily kissed him last term, she loves him and they can be together. Wrong. James doesn't understand why Lily won't just kiss him, and Lily is angry with James for not being what she wants him to be: horrible."

"Horrible?"

"Yeah. It would make it easier if she could just hate him, but now he's turning decent, she can't."

"Jesus, Marl. Are you studying wizard psychology?"

"No, I'm just a great councillor." They both cracked up laughing.

Neither of them noticed Lily come in. "So." She said and made them both jump. "James is…gone?" Her voice caught and she gulped for air. They both regarded Lily with a look of astonishment.

"Lily!" Marlene practically yelled.

"Hey Marl." She was distant already.

"Lily-"

"No, Sirius. Listening to you guys talk made me realise that I can't just hate him. Yeah he's a wanker and all." She grinned playfully at Marlene, who winked at her. "But one who I have feelings for. However much I don't want to." Marlene burst in applause, as did Sirius. Lily shoved Sirius and they all fell about in hysterics.

"You…Need…To…Tell…James!" Marlene said through bursts of laughter.

"No need." A smooth voice entered the room. I should've just put a lock on it Sirius thought. James stood casually in the room, his hair still tousled and smelling like sea. Marlene promptly vanished and Sirius tried to draw into a corner of the room. "Lily, Sirius." He nodded to them both, though his heart was beating a thousand miles an hour.

"Um…mate….do you want me to go?" Sirius longed for the empty corridor, and from there to the kitchen.

"If you please." Sirius practically ran towards the corridor, ducked under one of James' arms and disappeared into the mansion.

"I'll just-" Lily made to leave but James blocked her.

"No, we're staying here to talk."

"But-"

"No."

"Please-"

"No."

"James!"

"Deal with it." He nodded to the bed, and they both sat down with a huge space between them.

"How was…flying?"

"It was fine."

"Good good."

"How was breakfast?"

"Great, you're mother's an excellent cook."

"Yes, she is."

They both avoided looking at each other's eyes and tried to think of something to fill the awkward gap.

"You smell of saltwater."

"Is that a good thing of a bad thing?"

"I'm allergic to saltwater."

James snorted and smirked at Lily. "Would you like me to have a shower then, Miss Evans?"

"No need, Mr Potter."

"Why would that be, my lady?"

"I happen to love the smell of the sea. It is quite irresistible." Lily purred.

"Ah. You smell of….salt water too?" James said, clearly confused.

"Tears." She said quietly.

"Why have you been crying?" He nearly put his arm around her, but was worried about what her reaction would be.

"I thought…you were so angry with me, you decided to…" She mimed cutting her throat. James let out a great belt of laughter.

"Me? Suicide? I'm not the suicidal type, dear Lily. Much too selfish."

"That's good."

"Why?"

"I…I wouldn't want to have to do all that consoling to your mother. I mean, I would just be thinking: One less jerk in the world."

"Dear Lily, you've learnt sarcasm!" James looked delighted.

"Indeed I have"

"Why else would it be good?"

"What?"

"Why else would my urge to live be good?"

Lily could fell them drawing closer, and she wanted to hold back what was on the tip of her tongue, but she could feel the moment, and how much she wanted this moment to happen. "Because I would miss you." She said softly and leaned in. Their lips touched and Lily felt a wild happiness bursting between them. She lifted his arms to go around his neck and parted her lips. She slid her tongue in between his and he gripped onto her waist, as if he would never let go. She moved up from his neck to his hair, and slid her fingers between each strand, feeling the softness of it. She retracted her tongue and James moved down from kissing her lips to her cheek. From there he went all the way down her neck and she shuddered with pleasure. He kissed her collarbone and her shoulders, being careful not to overreach himself. He slid his hands down slightly to her hips and she felt herself being drawn onto his lap. God knows what they would've gone onto if Sirius hadn't barged in, with a very excited Marlene in tow.

"Prongs!" Sirius called happily.

James was still kissing Lily's neck and he growled out: "What?"

"Well, you're snogging her!"

"That much is obvious, Sirius." Lily snickered and then pulled James' head up so that they could kiss one last time. James clung on and tried to recapture the mood. "No, James, I'm not going to make out with you with both out friends watching."

"We could leave…." Marlene looked up at Sirius.

"Not a chance. Wouldn't want Prongs to lose his virginity this early, would we?"

James shot him a death-stare. Lily grinned at James. "You're a virgin?"

"Mhmm…" He said, looking very very annoyed.

"Okkk…." Marlene said, giggling with Lily. Lily jumped off James' lap and ran to hug her friend.

"I thought you were on holiday?"

"We just got back. Sirius seemed desperate to talk to someone other than you two. Can't think why." Both blushed furiously. Sirius carefully draped his arm round Marlene's waist. She noticed, but didn't say anything, and waited for Sirius to make the first move.

He carefully stroked her hair with his other hand, and looked entranced. Lily retreated quickly to James' side, who was standing up now and looking even more dishevelled. Marlene quickly spun round and grabbed his face with both hands. She kissed him like she was on fire, and he was going wild with his hands. He eventually placed them on her hips and she began to rock back and forth. They both looked like they were two starving people, who were gulping down water. Lily had always sensed there'd been a connection between the two, but now it really came to the fore. Sirius strayed his hands up a little, towards Marlene's neck, when James cleared his throat. "Guys, please, not sex in front of the other couple." Sirius immediately retracted his arms and they stood side by side, both flushed and happy.

"Lunch!" Charlotte called from downstairs.

A/N I know it seems like this is the end, but if I can I'm going to add more. Please review!