Disclaimer: We own naught what you recognize.

Author's Note: Thanks for waiting as patient as ever! I hope that you all are enjoying our return (we know we are!) and thank you for keeping up with us during the break. As always, enjoy and let us know your hopes, your dreams, etc. :)

Rule 6: Pranking is never a yes or no question; it must always be met with great enthusiasm and vigor as per the Marauder Pledge.

Lyla's Point of View

"How do we already have this much work?" Alexa asked with a huff. She laid her head down on her book, and seemed to completely surrender to the minimal reading we had been assigned. "I thought seventh year was supposed to be all about having fun and enjoying our last moments as irresponsible teenagers before entering into reality."

I rolled my eyes at her as I flipped the page of my potions book and jotted down a few more notes. "Let's be honest," I told her, "You'll spend the majority of the time complaining about doing school work, procrastinate to the point of no return, and then just borrow someone else's homework."

She made a face like she was prepared to disagree with me, but then just shrugged her shoulders. "Why should I change my ways now, when they've worked so well for me over the last six years?" she questioned. Honestly, she had a somewhat valid point. While I know that Alexa is much, much smarter than she leads people to believe, and that she could easily do all the schoolwork herself, she just sort of fell into this habit and stuck with it.

"Rest easy, Lyls," Alexa added. "I will eventually hit my academic stride. I may even try completing some assignments and studying for exams days in advance." I gasped dramatically and then laughed at my sister. "For tonight though, I cannot tolerate looking at this book for another minute." Alexa slammed her book closed, the noise reverberating through the library. "What do you say Blair? Care to join me in my procrastination?"

Blair eyed Alexa's closed book and then looked back at her own. "Even though I promised myself that I wasn't going to let myself get behind in my reading this year, my mind is still in summer mode." She pushed her book away and Alexa let out a cheer. "I don't know how you get back into school mode so quickly," Blair told me.

Alexa leaned across the table toward Blair as if to tell her a secret. "Lyla is one of those people who actually likes school," Alexa said in a hushed tone. Blair just shook her head, going along with Alexa. "I know, it's so sad, can you believe I have to live with the embarrassment of that being her sister."

"You two are hilarious," I told them. "You two won't be laughing when you get asked a question in class about the reading and I refuse to whisper the answer to you."

"Point taken," Blair said, heeding my warning. "Continue on your path of enlightenment."

As Blair and Alexa began to discuss the most recent issue of Witch Weekly, the Marauders themselves joined us. Peter, who had been a vague presence as of late, was even present, and it was nice to see them all together again. As James, Sirius and Peter took seats around the table, Remus pulled a chair up next to mine and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"I've never been in the library this early in a term before," James said looking around at the other students. "This newfound responsibility is really doing a number on me."

"Before you slide too far down that slippery slope, Prongsie, I have a proposition," Sirius jumped in. "I have the perfect suggestion to pull us out of our midweek blues and save you from becoming too responsible."

I could hear Remus laughing quietly to himself and when I looked over her was already shaking his head. "Let me guess, you've come up with some prank," Alexa said. "You're so predictable." She gave him a little jab with her elbow but he wasn't deterred.

"Actually, Wormy took the lead on this one," Sirius corrected, pointing over to a blushing Peter. Even after all the time we spent with Peter, he still got so shy around us; it was actually kind of endearing. "Earlier today, he came to me with a most hilarious idea for a prank and I think we should do it. What do you guys say?"

Remus looked to me with a questioning gaze. It was almost as if he was asking me for permission. Resting my hands on my stomach, I gave him a smile and shrugged my shoulders. I could see in his eyes that he really wanted to do it, and honestly he didn't need my permission. I know that we were married now, but Remus was his own person and could make these kinds of decisions on his own, although I did appreciate the sentiment. Pretty soon we would both be too busy with the baby to do this kind of stuff so I wanted Remus to get his fill in the time we had left.

"I'm going to need some more details before I commit to anything, but I'm basically in," Remus agreed. Sirius clapped Remus on the back and then everyone turned their attention toward James, who was looking particularly conflicted.

"So, what's it going to be James?" Blair asked him. I swear I could almost see the wheels turning in James's head. This was a totally different James than we were used to. If it had been last year, or even this past summer, James wouldn't have even hesitated to join in the prank, in fact, he probably would have been the one to instigate this whole thing, but it seemed that he was really trying to take his new role as Head Boy seriously.

"Don't get me wrong; I love a good prank, but Lily told me I really needed to set an example for the younger students this year," he reasoned. Alexa looked to Blair and then looked to me with wide eyes. He had said the "L" word, and there was no telling how Blair was going to react. Blair was trying to make peace with James and Lily sharing their duties, and she had even grown to like Lily over the summer, but it was still a sensitive subject.

It seemed that Blair was not going to react well to the mention of Lily in this instance. "Since when do you listen to what Lily Evans has to say?!" Blair blurted out. When she realized we were all giving her somewhat stunned looks, she softened her expression and rephrased her previous comment. "What I mean to say is that you are a Marauder at heart, and you need to be true to that. One little prank is not going to end your Head Boy career. Dumbledore knew what he was getting when he appointed you as Head Boy, I'm sure he understands that you'll still get into some mischief."

I gave Blair a thumbs up and a nod to let her know that she handled that like a champ. She gave me a quick smile and then focused back on James. He thought about it for a minute more and then broke out into a huge grin. "If anything, I could use this as a teachable moment on responsible pranking," he explained.

"I wouldn't go that far," I told him. Sirius looked ecstatic that the Marauders were all back in their element. "So, what is this brilliant prank that you've got planned?"

Before Peter could get a word out, Sirius motioned for him to not say anything. "You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else," he informed me with a smirk. "The less you know the better. Now, Marauder meeting in fifteen minutes up in Remus and Lyla's room."

I made a face at Sirius, and Remus immediately jumped in. "Absolutely not," he told him. "What part of 'You will not make our dormitory your personal common room' did you not understand?"

"Don't be greedy, mate," James chimed in. "What are friends for if not to share their ridiculously comfortable couches?"

James and Sirius just looked at Remus and me with ridiculously cheesy, pleading smiles. Realizing that they weren't going to give up, and realizing that it was going to be damn near impossible to keep our dorm from becoming Marauder headquarters, I figured it was just easier to give in now. "Just go," I told them. "Get out of here." Sirius and James both cheered loudly and quickly abandoned their seats at the table. As they said their goodbyes to Alexa and Blair, Remus turned toward me.

"What happened to the united front we were going to take on keeping our dorm a private area for just us?" Remus asked with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm thinking ahead," I informed him. He gave me a questioning look and I continued. "With them already there, it'll be that much easier to put them on diaper duty once the baby is here." Remus just laughed and then placed a slow kiss on my lips.

"I married one brilliant woman," he said. "I'll try to get rid of them quickly so it can be just you and me tonight, how's that sound?" I nodded my head and brought his lips back to mine.

Alexa let out a groan, completely ruining our moment. "Could you two be any more nauseatingly adorable?" she questioned, a slight look of disgust on her face "Your happiness is really starting to become too much." I stuck my tongue out at her and she just rolled her eyes.

As the Marauders gathered together, Sirius stopped them and wrapped his arms around his friends' shoulders. "Ladies, take the rest of the evening to mentally prepare yourself for what is going to be quite the prank," he instructed. "Damn, it's good to be back." And with that they took off to work out the finer details of their prank.

"Has anyone seen Sirius?" Alexa asked, scanning the hoards of people in the corridor to see if she could find him. "It is the first week of classes and he is already not showing up. His laziness astounds me."

I scoffed, and she gave me a heated look. Laughing at my dear sister, I gave her a nudge. "Calm down," I counseled. "Sirius told me he would be here. There is no way that he is going to miss seeing his illustrious prank go down."

Alexa nodded in agreement as we entered into the classroom to settle in for another rousing day of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Once in the classroom, I immediately noticed a familiar black-haired boy sitting at the front of the class. However, this sight was not at all familiar. There, sitting in the first row, was Sirius Black, and he appeared to be early to class.

"Okay, who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?" Alexa questioned as she slid into the seat next to Sirius. We all took various seats around him and waited for his response.

He rolled his eyes at Alexa and then leaned back in his seat. "Enjoy it while it lasts, this is the first and last time I will be early for class. My intense love of pranks just happens to be much stronger than my need to be chronically late."

"So, spill the beans already," Blair said, getting right to the point. "What did you all plan? If I get anything in my hair or on my robes I will kill you all." As Blair gave them a pointed stare, they knew that her threat was legit.

James quickly jumped in to put Blair at ease. "Don't worry, Bear, our primary target is our new Defense professor. Who better to prank than the unsuspecting new guy?" I shook my head in slight disapproval.

"No wonder we have a new Defense professor every year," I mentioned. "You lot torture the poor professors around here. This poor person isn't going to know what hit them."

Sirius put his arm around me and gave me a sickeningly sweet smile. "We just are doing our neighborly duty and informing him of who we are," he corrected me. "After today this professor will never forget our names."

James leaned forward from his seat behind us and had a slightly concerned look on his face. "Wait, I thought we agreed that we wouldn't get caught for this," James tried to clarified. "It's my first week as Head Boy, I can't get in trouble. My mum will not be pleased if she finds out."

Sirius turned to his friend and gave him a pat on the back. "Never worry, Prongs," he told him. "I know you are trying to take your responsibilities seriously, and I of all people can respect that." The four boys had a quick laugh at the pun and then Sirius continued. "I made sure that the Marauders were recognized for their pranking prowess, but made it abundantly clear that you had nothing to do with it, even though we all know you did."

Just as Sirius thought he had tied all those loose ends up, I saw a rejected look on James's face as he leaned back in his seat. I could tell that James was torn, he wanted his part in the prank to be recognized, but he also didn't want to get in any trouble this early on. I gave him a warm smile and then turned back to the front of the classroom as the professor entered the room.

Our new professor set a few books on the desk and then looked out at his class. With his hands on his hips, he gave us a genuine smile. Despite the wrinkles that made appearances here and there on his face, his eyes were wide-eyed and he possessed a young energy. I, for one, was relieved that he was somewhat older. After everything that happened with Professor Wolfe, the last thing I needed right now is Remus getting jealous over another young teacher.

"Good day, class," he addressed us. There were half-hearted grumbles from both the Gryffindor and Slytherin students that occupied the desks. We had had our fair share of Defense professors, and we were beginning to get pretty skeptical of any person that attempted to occupy this position. "I'm Professor Graham, and I will be your professor for the coming year."

Beside me, Sirius shifted anxiously in his seat. Alexa hit his leg under the table and he rolled his eyes at her. Professor Graham seemed nice enough, and I truly felt bad for him, knowing the impending prank was soon to happen. "Well, now that formalities are out of the way, we can get down to business. We'll begin with some basic theory of a few curses." He turned to the blackboard and pressed the chalk to the board.

As he began to write, he prattled on about the specifics of the curses that we'd be starting with. After Professor Graham had gotten quite a bit written on the board and turned back to us to elaborate, the words on the board began to break apart and the letters morphed and rearranged themselves. I looked to Sirius who had the widest, most satisfied grin on his face. A low murmur began to fill the classroom as more and more students realized what was happening. Slowly, the letters ceased moving and the new information on the board was anything but academic.

Laughter and gasps popped up in various parts of the room. The laughter primarily was located amongst the Gryffindors, while the Slytherins sported angry glares. Scrawled in chalk across the board were various insults and jokes, most of which were directed at specific Slytherins that were seated but meters away from us. It didn't take long for the entire class to break into chatter, and Professor Graham looked panicked as the class got away from him. Still oblivious to what was behind him, he tried to settle all of us.

Sirius leaned back in his chair and shook Remus's hand in congratulations. "So, what do you think?" Sirius questioned, looking to Alexa, Blair and myself.

"I have to say, the charm used to rearrange the letters was very well done," I admitted.

"That may be so," Alexa chimed in, "But the insults are rudimentary at best." Sirius gave her a shocked look. "I feel like you didn't even try."

Sirius scoffed and crossed his arms over his shoulders. "Moony, Wormtail, Prongs, are you guys hearing this?" he asked rhetorically. He turned back to Alexa and narrowed his eyes. "Do you think everything Michelangelo created was as brilliant as the Sistine Chapel?" Alexa nodded her head, but Sirius continued, ignoring her response. "It wasn't. He couldn't make a masterpiece every single time. I'll admit this isn't our Sistine Chapel, but even our mediocre work is better than most, and I'm pleased with that."

I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous comparison. "Besides, this isn't all," Remus commented. He pointed back up to the board and there we saw that Professor Graham had finally figured out what all the fuss was about. As he read what had replaced his information, his face grew more appalled. He quickly scrambled for the eraser and wildly tried to erase the chalk. However, the words didn't smudge even the slightest. With every pass of the eraser, the words almost seem to become more vivid rather than disappear.

"Who is responsible for this?" Professor Graham questioned. "Who did this?" As he said this, additional words began to appear in the bottom right corner of the board. Courtesy of the Marauders. Below this words were three symbols: a crescent moon, a paw print, and a small rat. Noticeably missing was James's stag. "The Marauders? I will ask one last time, who did this?" Remus, Sirius, and Peter stayed firmly in their seats and surprisingly; none of the Slytherins sold them out. "I will get to the bottom of this, but for now, class is dismissed."

We all quickly gathered up our stuff and filed out of the classroom. Before we could get too far, a group of Slytherins, including Snape, Avery, and Mulciber, stopped in front of us. "You think you and your friends are real clever, don't you, Black?" Avery said to Sirius.

"Oh, lighten up, Avery, it was just a joke, I can help it if you and your friends are easy targets," Sirius responded.

Avery shook his head and then let out a slight laugh. "It's pretty sad what the Black name has become," he spat at Sirius. "I'm sure your half-blood girlfriend really makes mum and dad proud."

I'm startled as Remus and James quickly move to grab Sirius before his fist can make contact with Avery's face. I grab Alexa's hand in my own and have to remind myself to breath. Avery laughs again, which only makes Sirius angrier. "Don't worry Black, there will be plenty more occasions in the future where you'll be able to defend your precious half-blood and mudblood friends. I hope you're happy with your choices, though, I don't think your family would even take you back at this point."

Alexa squeezed my hand tighter as the two boys just stared at each other for a minute. Without another word, Avery, Snape, Mulciber and the others turned and left. Sirius shook out of Remus's and James's holds and took off toward the Gryffindor common room. We all followed suit, and could only catch up with him once we were all outside the portrait hole.

Remus led us all into our dormitory and Sirius began to pace back and forth, working off his anger. "What did Avery mean when he said Sirius would have more opportunities to defend us?" I questioned, going over what he had said once more in my mind.

"That son of a bitch is fighting for Voldemort," Sirius seethed. "They all are."

"Now, we don't know that," Alexa said, attempting to keep things reasonable.

"Like hell we don't," he told her. "I mean, Dumbledore is recruiting students, we'd be stupid to think that Voldemort wasn't doing the same. We have to tell Dumbledore."

James put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Just wait a second, Pads," he cautioned. "While you may be right, we can't just go rushing into Dumbledore's office accusing students of something like this when we don't have a single shred of proof."

Sirius shook his head in disappointment. "James, we can't let them get away with this," he told his friend. "After what he said about Alexa and Lyla; and what he called Blair. He can't just say that shit and get away with it."

Mudblood. The word shot across my mind and made me feel sick to my stomach. I looked over to Blair who was sitting in one of the chairs just staring at her lap. Blair knew that none of us thought of her in that way, but I can imagine that just hearing that word hurt like hell.

"They won't get away with it, Sirius," James promised. "But we have to be smart about this. They will get what's coming to them, we just have to wait for the right time. For now, just steer clear of all of them, especially you three," he said pointing to me, Alexa and Blair.

After a few moments of silence, Alexa spoke softly, "I've made my decision." We all looked to where she was sitting and waited for her to explain. "There's no way I can't join the Order now. If they have a problem with me, I'm going to fight them head on. I'm not going to sit back while others fight this battle for me."

After Alexa made her proclamation, I watched Sirius, who was just staring at Alexa in disbelief. Alexa just shrugged her shoulders unapologetically, which seemed to set Sirius off. He pushed past James, shaking his hand from his shoulder and slammed the door behind him as he left. "Alex," I said with a look, "Do you think that was the best time to tell him that? He was already on edge."

Alexa raised her eyebrow at my chastisement. "He'll get over it, Lyls," she assured me. "He's not going to change my mind just because he's throwing a fit."

James began to move for the door to go after Sirius, but I quickly moved to stop him. "I'll go talk to Sirius," I told him. "You stay with Blair." James looked to where Blair was sitting, clearly upset, and gave me a nod.

I pushed open the door to the boys' dormitory and Sirius was still fuming as he sat on the windowsill. As I neared closer to him he let out a frustrated sigh. "James, mate, I'm just not in the mood to talk," he muttered. When he turned and saw me, his face softened slightly as I took a seat on his bed. "Did they send you so I won't get too irate?"

"James was going to come, but I think Blair needed him to stay with her," I explained. Anger crept back onto his face at the mention of Blair. "Sirius, I know you're upset by all this, they said some very unkind things to you, but this is exactly what they want. They want to get a reaction out of you, and provoke you to do something you could get in trouble for. Don't give them that satisfaction."

"They can say whatever they want about me, Lyls, I can take it and I probably deserve most of it. But when they bring my friends into it, that's when I have a problem," he told me. "I don't buy into all that blood purity shit, and it makes me absolutely sick that I'm related to people who would bring harm to you, Alexa or Blair because of it. And there's no telling what they would do to Remus if they knew what he was."

I shuddered at the thought and tried to shake it from my mind. "We all know that that stuff doesn't matter to you," I assured him. "But you don't have to take it upon yourself to protect all of us just because you feel guilty about your family." I could tell that I had found a truth in all this by the way Sirius's face changed. "You have been abused and rejected by your family because you've chosen a different path than them, that's nothing to feel guilty about."

"Does Alexa understand that there are people who would hurt her or even kill her just because your mother is a muggle?" he questioned. "I'm afraid that someone might target her because of who I am, to teach me a lesson." My heart ached as Sirius voiced his concerns. The world was changing, and the truth was, nobody was safe. I pulled myself off the bed and went to where Sirius was, pulling him into a hug.

When I pulled away, I gave Sirius a small smile. "Just so you know, I think Alexa feels the same way," I speculated. "She would rather them hurt her than hurt you because of her. We're all in danger, Sirius, more than I think any of us realize, but we can't let that consume us. Worrying about what could happen will only drive us mad. Don't push Alexa away because of this, you guys need each other more than ever now."

He gave my hand a squeeze and gave me a grateful smile. After a few moments his face became serious again. "I still don't trust those guys," he said. "They may not be directly fighting for the other side, but they definitely sympathize with them."

"I think you're right, but there's nothing we can do anything about it without proof," I told him. "Knowing Dumbledore, he's probably already aware of it and is keeping an eye on them." Sirius nodded in agreement and then there was a knock on the door. Remus joined us in the room and gave us a smile.

"Everything sorted?" he questioned. Sirius and I gave him a nod. "Great, there's something else you probably want to attend to now." I could tell that something wasn't right by the uncomfortable look on his face. "James left to go meet with Lily, and Blair didn't take it well. Everything I said just made the situation worse."

"Where is Blair now?" I asked.

"After Peter left, she and Alexa moved into our room on our bed," he answered.

Remus looked completely confused by the whole situation and he couldn't have looked more precious. I ruffled Sirius's hair and then went to Remus giving him a quick kiss. "Thanks for trying," I told him. "You boys behave, and go find Peter to make sure he's not too traumatized."

When I reached the top of the stairs leading back to mine and Remus's dormitory, I paused for a moment to catch my breath. While I had stayed relatively active during my pregnancy, it seemed in the last few weeks, my body was starting to weaken and I had more difficulty getting around and staying awake.

From the common area of our dormitory I could see into the bedroom. Alexa and Blair were under the covers and Alexa had her arm around Blair. Blair's eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were damp enough to catch the light as I entered the room. "Well, this looks like quite the party," I joked as I joined them on the bed, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. Blair gave a weak laugh and stretched her hand out to Lyla. I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. "What happened, Blair?"

Blair explained to me that she was already upset after what Avery had said and that she just lost it when James left to meet with Lily. "I really needed him to stay with me," she told us. "But I shouldn't have to beg, he should want to be there for me when I'm upset, right?" Alexa and I both nodded as she continued. "He said he really couldn't miss this meeting with Lily, there just wasn't anything he could do."

"Well, you know how Lily is with that kind of stuff," Alexa tried to reason. "James could have been in a world of hurt if he didn't go, maybe they had something really important to discuss."

Blair just rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I feel like I'm losing him," she confessed in a whisper. I rubbed her hand that I was still holding, but it didn't seem to comfort her. "Not just because of Lily either, I feel like we're drifting apart just in general. We don't talk like we used to."

"I love you both, you know that, and I want you both to be happy, Blair," I started. "Sometimes, even if you truly love the person, the relationship just doesn't work anymore. You need to do what makes you happy, Blair."

"Lyla's right," Alexa added. "We just want you to be happy. And we'll support you no matter what. You just have to hang in there."

Blair rubbed her eyes and let out a restrained scream. Alexa gave me a look and then looked back to Blair. "I'm just being silly," she said with a forced laugh. "I shouldn't be worrying about problems that I'm not even sure actually exist, especially with everything that's going on." It was obvious that she was just putting on a brave face and didn't believe anything she was saying, but Alexa and I complied with smiles. "Thanks for putting up with me, you two. Now, I should probably go find Remus and Peter and apologize, I kind of snapped at them earlier. Peter seemed to be a little unsettled by it."

She got up from her spot and casually left Alexa and I alone in my room, almost as if nothing had happened. Alexa's eyes widened as she looked to me. "Wow," she stated simply. "Blair is on the verge of losing it. This whole James thing is really getting to her. I just hope they can work something out before she completely loses her mind."

"You know how Blair is, she wears her heart on her sleeve," I said. "She loves deeply, but the hurt is equally deep. I just wish I knew where James's head was at with all this. I'm honestly not even sure he realizes that there is a problem."

"We'll have to prod Remus and Sirius for information," she suggested. Just as I was about to bring Sirius up, Alexa silenced me with a look that clearly conveyed her desire not to talk about Sirius. Instead, she leaned forward and patted my protruding stomach, which seemed to be growing every day. "Little Alexa, listen to your auntie, stay away from boys, they only cause trouble." The only response to this was to roll my eyes at my dear sister.

James POV

"Sorry I'm late, Lily," I quickly said as I slid into one of the chairs in the library. "I had to deal with a few things."

Lily never once looked up from the book in front of her. "Maybe if you didn't spend so much time planning inane pranks with your friends, you'd have some more free time for these meetings," she said, a slight chill in her tone. She finally looked up and raised her eyebrows at me before closing her book and pushing it aside. "You guys will eventually get in trouble for that stunt, you really can't afford to get in trouble considering the position you have this year. You're supposed to be a role model for the younger students James; you should start taking that seriously."

I let out a groan. This conversation was getting tiresome. "Can we not do this tonight, Lily?" I requested. "I've had to deal with a lot lately, and don't need you on my back as well."

Instead of the angry expression I expected to see, Lily seemed almost apologetic. "I heard about what Avery said to you guys; what he said about Blair," she admitted. "While I don't necessarily agree with your all's prank, no one deserves that, I'm sure Blair must be feeling awful."

"You know, your pal Snivellus was there when Avery said those terrible things, he seemed to share the same views," I pointed out. "How can you be friends with someone like that?"

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat and cleared her throat. "Severus has turned out not to be the person I thought he was," she told me, sadness in her voice. "He's been getting a little too extreme in his views lately, so we haven't been hanging out much. He swears he doesn't think that way about me, but I'm not different than Blair. Both of my parents are muggles, just like hers, so how could he not feel the same way about me as he does her and everyone else like us."

A few moments passed between us. To be honest, I didn't know what to say. It was the same when Blair was talking about this. I didn't know how they felt, I couldn't possibly fully understand the hurt of being called a mudblood, and I didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing. Luckily, Lily continued and broke the silence. "I don't mean to be so hard on you," she said with a smile. "At this point, it's kind of a force of habit. You're not as bad as I had built you up in my mind. But, I'm working on that."

I couldn't help the smug grin that took over my face. "I will remember this day for years to come," I joked with her. "The day that Lily Evans actually admitted that she was wrong about me all along and that I'm actually a decent human being. This day is starting to look up."

She rolled her eyes at me and waved me off. "Please don't ruin this nice moment we're having," she cautioned. "I'm just saying, that after spending time with all of you guys over the summer holiday, I realized just how great of a friend you are. You all really care for each other so deeply; it's actually really sweet. Not everyone is that lucky, I sure haven't found that."

I leaned forward in my chair and rested my arms on the table. "You know, Lily, you're not the person that you want everyone to believe you are," I told her. "If this summer proved anything, you showed us that you could be carefree and a little reckless. I think that's a bigger part of you than you let on to everyone here. It's not too late for you to find those friends that will be there until the end. You just have to let us in a little bit." She gave me a shy smile and nodded her head tentatively. "I would also try to tone down the judgmental side of yourself," I advised with a laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied.