Title: Neighbours
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Warnings: N/A
Prompts:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) : Ancient Runes (Assignment 2) : Write about someone overcoming a challenge, or facing a challenge head-on. Alt: Write about a lover or partner hiding something. - Extra Prompts : Quote: "Please accept this sandwich as a gesture of solidarity." ~ Supernatural, AU: Girl/Guy Next Door!AU (I guess?)
Word Count: 1,122
Notes: Muggle!AU. I want to write more. I mean, I have no time, but I really really want a Jily next door thing. Anyone got recs? Ideas? Please help.
Summary: The boys move in next door and Lily doesn't know if life will ever be the same again.


The day that the men next door moved in should have been no more than another sunrise and sunset, indistinguishable from the thousands of other days in Lily Evans' life.

It started off ordinarily enough. She woke up early, made a cup of tea and settled down at her desk to read over her notes. It was a Sunday, so no classes, and so she was feeling particularly relaxed as she worked, occasionally glancing up at the clock, or out of the window onto the sunny street.

At midday she stopped for lunch, and it was then that the problems began. Her peaceful meal was interrupted by what sounded like hundreds of people storming past her room, almost immediately followed by blaring music. Shouting ensued, and it sounded like someone was throwing the furniture around next door. Lily was about to hurry round and check whether everything was alright when the noise stopped suddenly. Curious, she stood up and decided to wander down the hallway, just to check that nothing awful had happened.

She had only made it as far as the door when the music started up again, louder than before. Sighing in frustration she stepped out into the corridor and froze at the scene which she had walked into. The door to the apartment next to hers was open and a trail of feathers ran from the doorway to the lift. Boxes were stacked in the space just outside her door and it looked like a bomb had gone off.

Two men ran past her, knocking her off balance, and she fell backwards, reaching for the wall for support. She stared in bewilderment as they jumped up onto an abandoned sofa, bashing each other with pillows.

Another man stumbled towards her, his face hidden behind the tower of books he was carrying. Lily held out her hands, as he was about to walk into her, and at her touch he looked up in surprise, dropping everything he had been holding.

"What on earth is going on here?" She asked, using the voice she usually reserved for the rowdiest children in her class.

She got no reaction from anyone. Clearly the music was too loud for the two on the sofa to hear her, and the third was attempting to pick up everything, apologising profusely as he did so. Lily looked around and caught sight of a CD player. She strode over to the source of the music, sharply pulling the plug out of the wall socket.

When the music cut off all three turned to look at her, glaring at the absence of deafening sound.

"What did you do that for?" The petulant question came from a tall man with ridiculously messy dark hair. He jumped down from the sofa, hitting the floor with a thud that made Lily wince.

She shook her head in amazement. "I'm trying to work next door. I don't know who you are-"

"Sirius Black. We just moved in". The third man strolled over to join them, brushing feathers out of his hair.

If there was one thing that Lily hated more than being interrupted, it was smooth talking gits who thought that the whole world was in love with them, and one glance at this Sirius was enough to confirm that that was exactly what he was. She ignored the hand thrust in her direction and continued talking.

"Wonderful. Now that you've had your little moving in party you can get back to moving your stuff inside the apartment, quietly."

The one with the stupid hair snorted, and Lily's eyes glinted dangerously. Perhaps sensing that she was serious the first one nodded emphatically. Satisfied, the redhead spun around, heading back to her own flat. She opened the door and was about to retreat into the comfort and sanity of her own space but turned back. "Welcome to the neighbourhood." she said briskly, and then slammed the door behind her.

Alas, it seemed that fate was against her, and only a couple of hours later she was interrupted again. She couldn't ignore the sharp knocks to her front door, and when she opened it, one of the men from earlier was standing there.

"Hi. James, James Potter." He reached out to shake her hand and she acquiesced, derailed by his forward greeting. He craned his head forwards, trying to see over her shoulder and instinctively she stepped backwards. That was apparently all the invitation he needed as he stepped forwards, well over the boundary line of her apartment.

She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "Very nice. I love the colour of your walls. Your place looks a lot better than ours, at the moment."

Lily stayed quiet, wondering how long he was going to spend invading her privacy.

"Look- Lily. I'm sorry about earlier. We were all pretty excited and, well I guess Sirius was a bit of a douche." He held up a plastic bag and her eyebrows shot up. "We didn't have any chocolates or anything so, please accept this sandwich as a gesture of solidarity."

She pushed the 'gift' away. "I'm fine. Thank you."

James didn't seem put off in the slightest and she sighed. What would it take to remove this man from her apartment?

"Well then, I don't suppose you would go out with me? For a drink? The ladies tend to be very fond of my company." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the last word and her mouth dropped open. How was it even possible to be so idiotic?

"Potter?"

"Yes?" He asked eagerly.

"Get out." She practically snarled the words and he looked surprised.

"So, that's a no then?"

She stared at him, her eyes not moving away as he slowly backed out of the room. "Okay. No it is. I assure you though, you'll live to regret that."

As the door swung closed behind her she sat down on her sofa. There would be no escaping him. He was her neighbour. How dreadful. There wasn't really anything she could do about that, as she certainly wasn't moving, so that was that. She would simply have to overcome this challenge. After all, how awful could three guys be? She would be fine. She, Lily Evans, was far superior to the imbeciles next door, and she would prove this. Her mother had always told her to 'kill it with kindness', and she would. She would be the perfect neighbour, and she would never let them see how incredibly infuriating they were.

Thus resolved, she even managed not to flinch when the music came back on, even louder than before.