A/N: Who has two thumbs and Microsoft Word? THIS GIRL! It took longer than I expected but I downloaded it today, wrote furiously and now here you have it at long-last: THE SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT SUMMER OF SNILY! This chapter is like nineteen pages long on Word and spans the entire summer as an apology for being so derpy about updates. Dementors, a pyromaniac Auror based on one of my real-world best friends, forgery and ferris wheels await! So, without further ado, here you go!

EDIT: Sorry about the deleting/re-uploading business, I had the feeling it wasn't posted properly and I wanted to be sure.

Moody frowned at us. "Come on, you're both more than capable! Remember the three D's!"

"They've been at it for nearly two hours and it's positively sweltering," mum pointed out from the back porch. "Give them a break, Alastor." I looked hopefully at the grizzled Auror, who nodded curtly.

"Fine, take a break then." Sev gave a relieved grin and we joined mum at the table, eagerly drinking the lemonade she offered. A week into the summer holidays, Moody had agreed to teach us Apparation after much begging and wheedling. In the end it was one of the Aurors who persuaded him – Kate, a spunky girl who couldn't have been very much older than I was and who had a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics.

"Go on, Mad-Eye, it'll be fun," she said lazily, lighting a scrap of parchment aflame with a smirk. "These kiddos are going to be cooped up in this crapshack 'til September, you might as well give them a way out… go see their friends or something."

So we had begun training – the only problem was, Moody wasn't exactly an ideal teacher, barking at us and keeping us out in the hot summer sun far longer than we would have liked. With the back of the house simply opening out onto a vast, open field, there was no shade at all.

As soon as we were finished our drinks, Moody had ushered us back out onto the lawn. "Just a few more minutes," he said, "can't afford to have the protective enchantments down for too long…"

And at that moment, three sharp cracks ripped through the air and just as many cloaked, masked figures surrounded us. Fear shot through me – Death Eaters? – and I seized Sev's hand. Without thinking about it, I turned on the spot. An unpleasant feeling – almost as though I was being pulled through a very tight tube – I opened my eyes and realized that I was standing in my bedroom.

"Wait, what?" Sev said stupidly, looking around. He looked back to me a second later, his black eyes wide with fear. "Your mum, Moody…" he started to say, but I was already running to the window.

"For Merlin's sake," I snarled after a moment. Sev joined me and swore when he saw the black-cloaked people remove their hoods, grinning and laughing. I instantly recognized them as Kate and two other Aurors. Moody was looking up at us, smirking triumphantly.

"That's one way to show us how to Apparate, I guess," Sev grumbled. I turned and beamed at him.

"Hey, I Apparated, didn't I?" I said excitedly.

"Yeah…" Sev held out his arm. "Now come on, let's see if I can get us back down, eh?" I grinned and took it, and after a moment's hesitation Sev Disapparated, pulling me with him.

This time, I stumbled and fell on the grass when I landed, feeling dizzy. It certainly wasn't my favourite means of transportation, even if it was the fastest. Moody chuckled. "You see, Determination is the most important."

"You could have just told us that rather than scaring us out of our wits," Sev pointed out, holding out a hand. I took it and pulled myself back to my feet.

"Well yeah, he could have," Kate said, rolling her eyes, "but this way was much more interesting."

"Right. Well, technically you're supposed to have to go through this whole test at the Ministry," Moody said with a slight sneer, "but frankly I don't want you to have to bother, nor do I necessarily want to take you all the way into London to do so. So, I've taken the liberty of doing this." With a flourish, Moody waved his wand and two envelopes came zooming out of the house. He gave us each one and grinned. I tore mine open eagerly; it was an Apparation certificate in my name.

"You forged us licenses?" Sev asked incredulously, beaming.

"Didn't forge it," Moody said, as though the mere idea of it was insulting. After a moment, he gave us a sly smile. "I just nicked two licenses from a Ministry bloke and changed the names."

"Wicked."

"Agh, Mad-Eye, I wish you'd have done that for me," Kate said with a scowl. "I had to do my test three times, you know. The first time I just lost a bit of hair but the second…" she grimaced and held up her left hand. "Three fingers, gone. It was awful, thank Merlin the Healers were able to fix me up again…"

I grimaced.

"Hey, I've got an idea," mum said suddenly, joining us on the lawn and shielding her eyes from the sun. "I hurried us out of the station rather quickly last week, so neither of you had a chance to say goodbye to your friends… well, what if you were to invite them over?"

Moody was looking at mum as though she had just turned purple and sprouted wings. "Are you mad, Violet? This is a safe house, for Merlin's sake, the more people that know about it, the less protected we are!"

"Do you really think they're going to go blabbing to Death Eaters about us?" Kate said, cocking an eyebrow. "They're Gryffindors, it's not like they're going to sell out their friends. Oh!" Suddenly, her eyes were shining. "We could have a bonfire!"

"I swear on my life they wouldn't say a thing," I promised, looking hopefully at Moody. "We can swear them to secrecy or something…"

"Don't be such a party-pooper, Al," Kate teased, and Moody glared.

"Fine, your friends can come over – as long as none of you call me Al ever again," he growled. Sev and I shared broad grins.

"Is the fireplace connected to the Floo network?" Sev asked eagerly. Moody nodded once, already looking reluctant that he had agreed. Before he could change his mind, Sev grabbed my hand and we ran back into the house, into the living room with the great big fireplace.

Within ten minutes we had the whole group notified, and all were set to come over later that evening. Moody was going to go round and Apparate them all to the safe house one at a time, and they had all sworn to keep the location a secret. As soon as we had finished dinner Sev and I looked expectantly at Moody, who huffed.

"You'd better have a damn good time, for all the trouble this is causing," he grumbled, and Disapparated.

"And Odo the Hero, they bore him back home, to the place he had known as a lad! And they laid him to rest with his hat inside out…"

We all looked expectantly to the boy beside me, half of whose face was cast into shadow by the roaring bonfire. "You aren't going to make me sing, are you?"

"Yes."

"Lily…"

"Go on, Snape," James prompted, leaning forwards and grinning. I smiled encouragingly at Sev, who hesitated a moment before sighing.

"And his wand, snapped in two, which was sad," he sang in his low baritone, rolling his eyes when Alice squeaked and clapped her hands.

"Oh, he can sing too! I hope you know how lucky you are, Evans."

Frank pretended to look insulted. "You're lucky yourself, Prewett," he exclaimed, looking at the girl on his lap.

"Very lucky," Mary agreed. "Big teddy bear like you, who wouldn't want that?"

"Oi!" James cried, and Sirius roared with laughter. I could feel my face aching from a grin that had been there all evening. I felt a rush of affection towards every one of my friends – even to Peter, who was getting increasingly disgruntled as he burned one marshmallow after another. With a sigh, Remus took the stick from his hands and showed him how to do it properly.

The bonfire – of course – had been Kate's idea. We were sitting out in the very back corner of the yard. The lights from the house fell just short of the log-benches we had conjured up, and behind Remus and Peter the dark field was full of the sounds of crickets chirping. The stars were bright – brighter than I had ever seen them back home, and every now and again Sev would point out a constellation to me.

"Here, Black, this one will interest you," he said, pointing up into the night sky. "See that one there, the brightest one? Know what it's called?"

"Cheesecake?"

"Cheese… who in their right mind would name a star cheesecake?"

"I would. Hell, they'd all be named after food, there'd be Cheesecake and Pudding and Roast Beef and Treacle Tart and -"

"Right," Sev interrupted, sneering slightly. "Well, that one happens to be called Sirius."

Sirius beamed. "Oh yeah? A bunch of us are named after stars… which one is Regulus?" His grin faltered when he saw Sev grimace, and I frowned. I didn't want any bad memories interrupting such a fun night. Regaining his composure, Sev gestured to another star.

Peter yelped suddenly, a high-pitched sound that made us all jump and whip around to stare at him. He looked back, his eyes wide, and muttered, "Sorry…"

I looked questioningly to Remus, who rolled his eyes. "He went and burned the last marshmallow. So much for s'mores."

Sirius groaned dramatically. "Well if there's no more food, I'm afraid I'll be off."

"Pig," Mary snorted, and Sirius winked.

I looked back up at the house and huffed. "It looks like Moody is asleep," I said apologetically. "And no-one else will Apparate you home for fear of him skinning them come morning… we have some spare rooms on the top floor, if you like?"

"Were you planning this sleepover, Evans?" Sirius accused, and I smiled slightly.

"Well I didn't doubt he'd fall asleep…"

Remus stood, stretching. "Either way, I'm exhausted and my eyelids feel like they're burned to the crisp. That Kate girl might have overdone the bonfire a bit."

There was a ripple of laughter and the others began to stand and stretch as well. With a flick of my wand I had put the fire out, and we trooped back up to the silent house. I took a glance at the grandfather clock as we passed; already it was half past eleven and everyone was bound to be asleep. We made our way to the third floor, where one side of the hall held my room and Petunia's, and the other held Sev's and a washroom.

"Here, we'll crash in Snape's room," James said cheerfully, throwing an arm around a startled Sev. "You lovely ladies can sleep in Lily's; you can stay up all night painting your toes and talking about how Mary doesn't deserve someone as sexy as me – owch!"

Mary picked her foot up from where she had stomped on her boyfriend's, but pecked him on the lips nevertheless. "Night, Potter."

"MacDonald," he said with a goofy grin.

I rose up on my toes and kissed Sev gently. "Love you," I reminded him quietly, smiling. Sev smiled back and kissed my forehead before letting me go, and Alice, Mary and I stepped into my bedroom and closed the door.

Even after we had changed into our pajamas and conjured up beds for the others, none of us were feeling remotely tired. I gathered my knees to my chest, leaning against the headboard of my bed, while Mary sat cross-legged at the end and Alice lay facing us on her cot. They were both smiling in an excited sort of way, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Mary," Alice said suddenly, "truth or dare." I grinned; we had played this game many times in the Gryffindor dormitory, and the dares had ranged everything from eating a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean to sneaking down to a certain classroom and bringing us back some proof that they had been there. Once we had dared Dorcas to sneak down to the kitchens – she had gotten three weeks detention by the time she had reached the end of the corridor and never let us forget it.

"Truth, truth, always truth," Mary said, flapping her hand. "I'm far too lazy to do a dare."

"That's no fun at all," Alice grumbled, thinking. "Oh!" She propped herself up on her elbow, grinning wickedly. "So, how far have you and Potter gone then?"

Mary made an outraged sound, though her eyes were bright with mirth. "That's a bit intrusive, isn't it?"

As a reply, Alice seized my wand from the bedside table, charming the door so that anyone outside the room would hear nothing but silence. We both looked expectantly at Mary, who smiled deviously.

"You didn't…?" Alice asked, her eyes wide. Mary blushed and shook her head furiously.

"No no no. Well, almost?"

"Almost?"

"We're well-acquainted in other ways," Mary said lightly, and before I could fully register why Alice had squawked so loudly she said, "Lily, truth or dare!"

"Truth," I said automatically, smirking. Mary thought for a moment.

"Same question."

"No, that shouldn't be allowed, you can't ask her the same question," Alice said, shaking her head, and I shot her a half-releived glance. "Here, Lily, you and Sev... what's the deal with you two?" My expression turned confused, so she explained, "I mean, you've known each other how long?"

"Oh," I said. "Well, I was nine, we were both nine. So eight years now." I could already tell that she was going to press me for more information, so I continued. "You know the story, he was the one who told me I was a witch in the first place. He lived maybe ten, twenty minutes from where I did, so we saw each other all the time. And before you ask, I figure I started to fancy him just before fifth year."

Both Mary and Alice's eyes were bright with interest. "Oh? Do tell," Mary prompted.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't keep a tiny little smile off my face. "It happened when we were in Diagon Alley, school shopping. Uhm, we were in The Leaky Cauldron, mum and dad were getting lunch and we were at a table, and we were talking. And Emmaline Vance walks by - you know her, she's a year below us - and she says, quite loudly, 'Lily, you aren't dating that snake, are you?'" I said in a bad intimidation of Emmaline, and both other girls laughed. "Anyway, we were both spluttering and blushing like mad, of course, and Emmaline flounces off looking quite pleased with herself. And I look over at him, and it... it was weird, you know, but suddenly I wondered, would it really be so bad if we were dating? And then mum and dad came back, so I didn't have much time to really dwell on it until that evening... I stayed up half the bloody night thinking about it, and in the end I realized that no, it wouldn't be a bad thing at all. All over the next year I began to notice little things about him, little things that made my heart flutter and made a little smile appear on my face... and then, when we were by the lake and Potter was bullying him and he called me a you-know-what." I frowned slightly. "My god, how that hurt. I didn't really care about the insult itself, but it meant that I had lost him for good. And by that point he wasn't just my best friend anymore, by that time I was dangerously close to being in love with him. You can imagine how wonderful it was when he turned up in the summer, even if he was broken and bloodied..." I grimaced at the memory.

"Very romantic, especially because you've known each other so long," Alice decided, nodding. "You're adorable together, you know that?"

I smiled, flattered. "Thanks... so, how did you and Frank meet again?"

"Oh, well, we were actually at one of Slughorn's parties in fourth year - the first one I ever went to, remember?" Alice's face was shining as she spoke. "Slughorn wanted to have me there for Herbology, I suppose, and he introduced me to Frank, who was also there because he was so brilliant at the subject. I mean, we'd seen each other round the common room and everything, but it was the first time we'd actually talked, one on one, and by the end of the evening he had asked me on a date into Hogsmeade and I was already mad for him," Alice finished with a little giggle.

"You already know how James and I met..." Mary started, but suddenly she froze, her head whipping around to the closed door. Alice and I shared a puzzled glance but looked back just in time to see Mary sieze her wand from where it sat on top of her rucksack, roar, "POTTER!" and blast the door open. James and Sirius, who had obviously been leaning against it, tumbled forwards onto the carpet.

"How the hell...?" I exclaimed.

"I know how to break silencing charms," Sirius grumbled, scrambling to his feet.

I looked worridly at Mary, who was gripping her wand so tightly I feared it would snap. Sparks flew from the end and I could tell she was furious. "Get the hell out of here, Black," she growled, in a voice so low and dangerous that I wasn't surprised when Sirius stumbled backwards and, with one sidelong glance at James, skittered away. James hurried after him, but not before Mary had sent a Stinging Jinx after him. With another slash of her wand, the door shut tight.

There was a moment of heavy silence. "Bloody hell, Mary, I thought you loved him," Alice croaked.

"Oh, I do," Mary said with a small smile. "But I'm training him. Making him less of an obnoxious prat, y'know?"

I laughed. "Merlin, if this is how you repremaind your boyfriend I'm terrified for your kids!" Mary giggled, and Alice sniggered, and soon all three of us were laughing.

"RAWR!" a new voice yelled, and the door flew open again. Kate, dressed in fleecy pajama bottoms and an oversized t-shirt, came sprinting into the room and dove onto my bed, knocking Mary clear onto the floor and forcing me to crawl backwards as fast as I could. She cackled into the mattress.

Alice poked her side, making the Auror squeak and jump. "Lily, there's a UFW on your bed." Alice looked up at me, smirking slightly. "An Unidentified Flying Witch."

"I'm not unidentified, I'm Kate!" Kate chirruped, sitting up. "So what are we doing?"

"Having a pillow fight," Mary said calmly. I took a moment before registering what she had said and turned towards her, and her pillow hit me square in the face. Kate broke into a broad grin, siezed the pillow from Mary's hands and hit her over the head with it, hard, sending her tumbling back onto the ground. Mary, blowing her hair out of her eyes, raised her wand.

"Damn it!" I yelped, but it was too late; the blankets were already tangling themselves around Kate and I, rising and dumping us both onto Alice, whose cot crumpled under our combined weight. Alice shrieked with laughter from somewhere under me.

"Oi!" I sat up at the gruff bark, and blushed deeply when I saw Moody standing in the door, scowling. "Some of us are trying to sleep, the last thing we need is to hear a gaggle of teenage girls giggling brainlessly... yes, Webster, that goes for you too!" Moody glared at each of us in turn before grunting, "Get to sleep, all of you."

"Yes, sir," Alice mumbled, and we hurried to straighten up the room, conjure a third cot for Kate, and get into bed. Moody turned off the lights and stumped away, grumbling to himself.

We lay in the dark for a moment. "M'not brainless," Mary said stubbornly into her pillow from somewhere on my left.

"Mary," Alice said kindly, "you're dating Potter, you've got to be a little bit brain-damaged..."

"Shut your face," Mary retorted, and Kate snickered.

"Sev!" I exclaimed, pounding on his bedroom door.

"It's open," he called lazily, and I burst into the room. He was lounging on his bed, reading, but he looked up and smiled, closing his book.

"I've had an idea," I announced, flouncing over to sit beside him.

"Have you?"

"I have. You remember how you were whining about us never going on a real date, because we were always at Hogsmeade with everyone else and you wanted it to be just me and you?" I asked.

"I don't whine," Sev said with a frown. I laughed and hit his arm lightly.

"Of course you don't. Anyway, I was reading mum's paper and the town nearest here is having a summer carnival." My face was shining with excitement now. "And in Muggle stories you always see them on dates at a fair; it's supposed to be very romantic."

Sev was still frowning. "A Muggle fair? One of those things with rickety contraptions you call rides and deep-fried-everything?"

"Yes! Mum's already going out that way tonight; she's doing the grocery shopping or something. But I thought, maybe, we could…" I trailed off, smiling hopefully. Just as I knew he would, Sev sighed.

"Fine, if it's a fair you want it's a fair you'll get," he said. I squealed happily and hugged him.

"You're the best," I said, placing a light kiss on his cheek. "Now come on, mum wants us downstairs in ten minutes."

"Were you planning this all along?" I didn't answer, just smirked and flounced back to my bedroom. As quickly as possible, I dug through my wardrobe and changed into an outfit nicer than the t-shirt and track pants I had been wearing. Frowning slightly at my reflection in the mirror, I pulled a brush through my hair. While trying to decide whether or not to hunt down the pityful amount of makeup I owned, I caught Sev's reflection smiling at me, leaning up against the doorframe.

"You don't need to dress up or anything," he said, walking over. "You're already beautiful."

"But it's our first date... our first real date, in any case, and I want it to be special."

Sev chuckled. "The fact that someone like me is going on a date with someone like you, that alone makes it beyond special."

I smiled shyly and gave him a quick peck. "Mum's probably waiting on us, let's go."

It had taken a great deal of persuasion before Moody let any of us set foot out of the safe house's enchantments. Reports of Death Eater sightings and attacks had dwindled to nearly nothing over July, but he insisted that we keep our wands on us at all times and that at least one Auror should accompiany us everywhere. Kate, who was almost becoming a surrogate older sister to me now that Petunia spent almost all her time locked up in her room, had eagerly agreed to keep an eye on us at the fair.

"This should be fun," she said brightly from the front seat of the car. "I've only ever been to a fair once, summer after my first year. Rode the tilt-a-whirl so many times, I blew chunks all over the place."

"Charming," mum said, wrinkling her nose, and we laughed.

It was almost a releif to see the crowds of Muggles at the fair after being cooped up in a safe house in the middle of nowhere. I clambered out of the car, breathing in the scent of popcorn and grease with a grin. Sev stood next to me, looking not at all impressed. "Come on, don't be such a party pooper, this is going to be fun," I enthused, poking his chest.

"Your mum'll pick us up at ten," Kate said, looking as excited as I felt. "I'll be on the tilt-a-whirl if you need me!" With a swish of her trench coat she ran off.

I looked over at Sev and took his hand in mine. "Come on then." We wandered aimlessly across the grassy field where the fair had been set up. A dozen or so rides made up a little midway, with flashing lights and pouding music. Next to it sat three or four rows of booths and stalls; vendors selling everything from jewelery to toys to chocolates to clothing. We joined a queue of people waiting to buy tickets.

"You know, a simple charm could make this entire operation more effcient," Sev said to me, gesturing around.

I hit him on the arm. "Come on, Sev, can we just pretend to be a normal couple of teenagers on a date rather than simplifying everything with..." I looked around at the Muggles "with you-know-what?"

Sev smiled faintly. "A date with Lily Evans," he said quietly, sounding incredulous. "Sounds fine with me."

"Good." I stepped up to the booth and fished in my pockets for my Muggle money. "Two ride-all-day bracelets, please."

"I'm not sure about this, Lily."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Aw, is the big bad Slytherin afraid of a widdle kiddie ride?"

"That is not a kiddie ride, that is a death trap," Sev said through clenched teeth, his black eyes fixed solidly on the ferris wheel.

I sighed. After four hours, we had been on every ride except for this one. It looked like it was time to bring out the big guns. "Come on, Sev, for me?" I said in a pathetically simpering voice, pouting up at him. He did a slight double take, and groaned.

"Lily..."

"Seeev..."

Sev narrowed his eyes. "You're terrible."

I beamed, hugging his arm. "Love you too," I chirped, dragging him towards the queue. It wasn't very long before I was leading him up the metal steps and sitting next to him on the seat. He was gripping the bar with white knuckles, his eyes screwed shut.

"The boyfriend aint a fan of heights?" the carnie guessed, locking the lap bar into place.

I smiled thinly. "Evidently not." I reached across and took his hand, and he squeezed it tight when we began to move. I fought hard not to laugh at his expression as we climbed higher and higher, and suddenly the ferris wheel came to a stop to let other passengers on and we were sitting right at the top. "Sev, Sev open your eyes," I said quietly.

One at a time, Sev cracked his eyes open, and after a moment or two I felt him relax. The scenery was beautiful - the sun was just setting, painting the sky orange and gold and pink and purple, and the lights on the ferris wheel were twinkling merrily. I broke into a broad smile; after reading and watching so many romance stories when I was younger, this was almost exactly how I had imagined my first date would be, with the smell of popcorn floating up to us from the ground and the sunset bright on the horizon.

"Alright, alright, you win," Sev said, a faint smile on his face. "It is nice up here."

My eyes searched him almost hungrily. "Kiss me," I breathed, and Sev wasted no time in cupping my face in his hands and touching his lips to mine. I sighed happily, leaning in, wanting more, but the ferris wheel jerked to life again and Sev pulled away, gripping the lap bar again.

He caught my look and frowned. "Once we're still it's fine," he admitted, "but moving is something else altogether." I laughed lightly, scooting closer to him, and rested my head on his shoulder. We went around twice more before Sev found it in him to let go of the bar with one hand, putting the arm around me and hugging me even closer. I shifted my head up and kissed him again.

"You know, this is the first date I've always pictured," I admitted, once we were off the ride. We were wandering aimlessly, our hands tightly clasped, the light fading fast. "I was always a sucker for romance novels."

Sev chuckled. "Our next date is going to be in the Wizarding world," he said quietly, leaning towards me so only I could hear. "Yes, we'll explore all of Diagon Alley and I'll buy you ice cream and all the Butterbeer you could drink... and we can snog by the fire in the Leaky Cauldron..."

A scream rose from the midway and we froze in our tracks. It wasn't a scream of joy from one of the rides - no, this scream was laced with terror, and now others were joining it. Neither of us moved, we just stood there hand-in-hand, our backs to the sound.

"You've got to be kidding me," he groaned.

"Do we ever get a break?" I growled back, plunging my free hand into my jean pocket and pulling out my wand. Sev mirrored my movement and we both whirled around, wands pointing menacingly - at three black-cloaked creatures, great skeletal things hovering above the grass.

Dementors.

Instantly it was like all the happiness had gone from the world, leaving nothing but cold despair in it's wake. The warm summer temperature had plummeted so that I could see my breath in the air. I tried to cast a spell, but not only did I find it impossible but I realized that I had no idea just what spell to use. What the hell sort of spell do you use against a Dementor? I thought angrily. We had only had one lesson about them in fifth year, and the Professor had mentioned something about a Patronus, but otherwise I was at a total loss. Beside me Sev was staggering backwards with a haunted quality to his expression.

Suddenly, a dog came barelling out of nowhere - not quite a dog though, for it was made up of some kind of vapoury silver substance. It charged at the Dementors which were instantly repelled by the creature, and I was able to breathe again as it drove them further and further away. Kate came pushing past us, her wand outstretched and her face a mask of determination. She was controlling the dog, driving the Dementors away... and now a series of cracks ripped through the air and more wizards, Aurors and Ministry wizards alike, began Apparating, sending their own foggy animals after them. It was a few moments before they seemed to give up, swooping away into the night that had fallen sometime during the attack.

There was a shivering moment of silence before Muggles began screaming again. I wasn't all that surprised - after all, two dozen people had just appeared out of thin air and driven off impossible creatures that should only have existed in children's nightmares. I ignored them, whirling around to find Sev, who had fallen onto the grass and was looking around frantically. As soon as his eyes locked onto mine he grabbed my wrist and I fell next to him willingly enough, throwing my arms around him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Lily," he whispered into my hair, and I could feel both of us trembling. I pulled away, drinking him in desperately, wondering how close we had come to losing one another. Without hesitating any longer I seized his face in my hand and kissed him fiercely before hugging him tight. "Thank Merlin you're okay..."

"Oh god, Sev, I felt so defenceless..." I choked, a dry sob tearing from my throat. "What the hell were they doing here?"

"I don't know," Kate said grimly, and only then did I realise she was standing above us. "But I have a feeling it has to do with your little friends and their boss." She knelt down and put a hand on my shoulder, and behind all the worry and fear in her eyes I could see faint amusement. "Somehow I get the feeling ol' Mad Eye won't be letting us set foot outside that house for the rest of our lives."

Sev and I tiptoed through the house, careful to avoid any creaky floorboards. The house was dark; it was only eight in the morning and we were positive that everyone else was asleep. Sev and I, meanwhile, were fully dressed, our pockets full of wizard money. Between Moody's growing paranoia and mum's over protectiveness, we had been lucky to get a chance to so much as glance out a window ever since the fair incident.

We reached the bottom floor and crept across the front hall towards the front door. We had almost made it when the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat made us whirl around. Moody was standing in the living room, glaring at us warningly. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Sev grabbed my hand and we ran, bursting out the front door into the already warm August morning. We heard Moody thundering after us and I laughed as we ran even faster, making a beeline towards the edge of the protective enchantments around the house. Moody roared and snatched at my arm but it was too late; Sev pulled us just outside the barrier and Disapparated just as I felt the Auror's fingers brush my skin.

I collapsed on top of Sev in the clearing, giggling breathlessly. "Oh, they're going to lose it when we get home," I said.

"Well we'll have to make today worth it," Sev replied, sitting up. I slid down so my head was in his lap and I grinned up at him. It faded after a few moments, remembering where I was.

"It's weird, being this near but not going to visit," I mumbled, thinking of the house I had grown up in.

Sev sighed, running a hand through my hair. "If anyone, you'd be visiting Death Eaters. It's risky, even being here this long. We should keep going."

"Fine." I stood up and offered my hand to him. He took it and I Apparated us the rest of the way to The Leaky Cauldron. Diagon Alley was already bustling with life despite the early hour and I couldn't help feeling slightly nervous after everything that had happened. I caught Sev's eyes and he squeezed my hand reassuringly. Nevertheless, I held my wand tight in my free hand.

We finished our school shopping as quickly as we could, treating it like a chore rather than something we looked forward to like we always did. The last thing either of us wanted was to spend our special day doing anything other than having as much fun as we could. It wasn't until nine, when we were just finishing up at Flourish and Blott's that I remembered something, gasping sharply and nearly dropping my bag.

"What, what is it, what's wrong?" Sev asked urgently.

"Oh, nothing, it's just... this is our last time we're going to be here for school shopping, isn't it?" I looked up at him. He frowned deeply. "Do you remember, August before first year? Mum took you along with us, to get all our stuff."

Sev laughed. "Yes, and Madame Malkin stabbed me about a dozen times."

"And you lit the curtains on fire."

"Well, I seem to recall that I wasn't the one who very nearly killed Ollivander when trying out her wand..."

"That was an accident, how was I supposed to know he was standing close enough to nearly get trapped under that shelf?"

"You were lucky he moved in time."

I smiled. "Anyway, I'm done here..." I put my bags down, shrunk them and stowed them safely in my pocket. Sev copied my movements.

"We've got the rest of the day to ourselves now," he reminded me happily, taking my hand again and leading me back out into the cobbled street. "What do you want to do?" My stomach growled loudly before I could answer, and Sev chuckled. "Same here... come on, I'll buy you anything you like."

Five minutes later, the two of us were sitting side by side in a booth at the Leaky Cauldron, clacking our Butterbeers together. "To eight years!" I said cheerfully, taking a swig from my glass.

"The best eight years of my life," Sev agreed, sipping his own drink. When he set the glass down I noticed a fleck of foam at the end of his nose. He crossed his eyes to look at it and I giggled, reaching out to wipe it away with a finger and then licking it off. He watched, his eyes wide, and I smirked. "You're going to be the death of me, you know," he said hoarsely.

My only response was to grin wider. "If Moody doesn't get to us first. Come here." I grabbed the back of his head, dragged him towards me and kissed him. We had barely had five minutes alone since the fair and I was aching for something, anything more than the handful of light, quick kisses we had stolen over the past few weeks. I heard him sigh happily as I deepened the kiss but with another, more reluctant sigh, he pulled away.

I gave him a puzzled look and he smiled faintly. "We're sitting in a very crowded pub," he reminded me quietly. I chuckled.

"We could go somewhere less crowded."

"You've been hanging around Mary too much."

"Do you really have a problem with that?" I moved even closer, my eyes twinkling with amusement.

"None whatsoever," Sev replied, his voice almost a growl. "Where?"

"Anywhere."

"How about home?"

I looked around and felt my heart plummet when I saw Moody standing there, looking absolutely livid. Sev swore under his breath.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Moody," I said, smiling weakly.

He seized my forearm. "We're leaving," he growled, and pulled us both along with him as he Disapparated back to the house.

"Lily!"

"Doe!"

I crashed into Dorcas with an 'oof!' and struggled to breathe as she hugged me tight.

"How dare you not invite us to your little party?" Marlene exclaimed, pretending to be outraged, taking Dorcas's place in my arms.

"That was ages ago," I protested, "and besides, weren't you in France?"

"She was, but I wasn't, I was sitting in my boring old house, just waiting for someone to owl me..." Dorcas moaned.

"It's not my fault you weren't home."

"Shut up. Oh! Severus!" Dorcas launched herself at Sev, who dropped his bags and hugged her back awkwardly. One by one, the others joined us, until we had become a many-armed hug tangled together on the platform. The train's horn blared loudly and with a start I realised we only had five minutes until it left. I detached myself from the others and found mum, who was standing with Moody and Kate by the barrier.

Mum took one look at me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I laughed. "Mum, Easter break isn't that much further than Christmas," I protested, gently prying her off me.

"I know, dear, but it's the first time you're staying at school for Christmas..." Mum trailed off and I knew she was worried about us.

"It's also my last chance to ever do so, so don't you dare make me feel bad." I smiled sadly at her. "I'll write," I promised.

"Every week," she pressed.

"Yes, mum, every week."

Mum nodded and studied me for a moment more. "Be safe."

"Right, like I'm going to go pissing off Slytherins on purpose," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Not just that," mum said, and I saw her eyes flick over to Sev. My own eyes widened in surprise and I felt my face reddening.

"Mum," I moaned, embarassed, but she just chuckled and hugged me one last time.

"See you in April, kiddo," Kate said cheerfully. Moody was silent, and I knew he was still furious about our escape to Diagon Alley. I gave him a weak smile and he nodded curtly.

The whistle blew again and Sev appeared beside me. "Come on... see you at Easter, Mrs. Evans." Mum hugged Sev quickly before letting us go. We hurried after the others, jumping onto the train just as it began moving. I followed Sev, picking my way through the usual crush of students at the windows, and fell into a seat in a compartment with all the others.

"Oh my god, this is the last time we're going to do this," Mary said suddenly. "We're graduating this year."

"Oh, don't, I did my makeup all nice this morning and I don't want to ruin it thinking about stuff like that," Marlene moaned, and there was a ripple of laughter through the compartment. I couldn't stop smiling. As much as I didn't want the summer to end, the prospect of returning to Hogwarts for one last year was an enticing one and I couldn't wait to step through the doors again. I looked at Sev, who grinned right back and took my hand in his. In that moment, I didn't care about NEWTs or Slytherins or Death Eaters or anything but the man beside me and the friends around me. As long as I had them around, I knew that I could get through anything that my seventh year threw at me.

"... last year at Hogwarts, let's make it count!" James said excitedly, finishing a sentence I hadn't entirely heard.

"Hear hear!" I said with a laugh, miming holding up a drink. James raised one of his own, pretending to toast.

"To our seventh year!" he said, grinning wickedly. "It's gonna be totally awesome."

TADA!

I was in NaNo mode for this whole thing so there might be a lot of unnecessary words in there, but I think I like it. But did you? Let me know, it'd be greatly appreciated!

And I love you. Really, I do. Did I ever mention it? Because I love you THIS MUCH! *throws open arms as wide as possible*

Aaaand, feel free to add me on the YWP NaNoWriMo site, as nagini1025. (16,854 and counting... I think I'm going to fail)

RIGHT, anyway, I'm going to shut up.

EDIT: Sorry about the re-upload, I messed up the breaks. S'all good now