July 15th, 1970

Cokeworth, England

It was a very fine day in July when her father had informed them they were to move to London due to the work reasons, which was short for working entire towns away from where his work was actually located was starting to get very impractical and making his work way harder than they were supposed to be. It was either packing their things and moving away all the way to London or to have their father looking for a new job, which considering the current economic situation they were in would be a very difficult thing to do. Petunia had pushed herself on her feet and looked at their father as if he had just informed her he had a very incurable cancer in his lungs. "How could you do this to me? Just because Lily doesn't have a life and simply goes around spending too much time with that honestly far too creepy boy, who is probably the only friend she probably would ever have, doesn't mean everyone is the same way. I have friends here! I have a life here! You can't do this to me!"

Lily gulped down the ache she felt in her throat at her sister's far too cruel words and merely glared at her, frowning. "Petunia, grow up." She snapped. "This isn't about you. They are not doing this to punish you or something like that. They actually have legitimate concerns which doesn't involve you, Petunia." It was one of her sister's habits to make everything about her. When they discovered she was a witch, Petunia had gotten it into her mind that the universe was merely doing it so they could punish her. Lily was fairly certain the universe didn't work with the mere purpose of punishing her bratty sister. When she discovered Grant Widely asked her out to the dance instead of Petunia, she was convinced it was Lily's plan all along to steal him away from her welcoming arms, which Lily honestly thought was pretty damn foolish as she had no claim over him in the first place. Besides, he was a very stupid boy whom Lily would not give a time of her life, let alone go to dance with him. The fact she had gotten in a huge fight with her sister because of him had her not wishing to go anywhere with him even further.

Petunia rolled her eyes, staring down at her with her nose held high in the air. "Lily, grow up." She snapped. "I wasn't talking to you." She then turned to their father who shook his head before she could even say another word, the expression on his face firm and decisive, which told them everything they needed to know about the situation. Tears formed in Petunia's eyes as she spun on her heel and ran away to the upstairs, screaming how unfair it was they were doing this to her.

"Lily, go comfort your sister." Her mother ordered her, which Lily merely replied with a small, but pleasant looking smile. "I think she can take care of herself, Mom." She had no wish to get into yet another fight with her sister, which she undoubtedly would if she went there looking to comfort her. It was Petunia's life mission to get into as many fights with her as humanly possible. "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go and bid my friend a goodbye. I cannot leave him without saying a word." Having informed them of her plans, Lily pushed herself to her feet and stalked out of the door, leaving them baffled and quite frankly, very worried about both of them, but all would be resolved with enough time, they hoped. They really hoped. They wouldn't know what to do otherwise. How would they cope if they made their daughters only miserable by moving away?

July 18th, 1970

London, England

It was a very warm day in July when Sirius Black noticed a new family moving right next door to them ― a family of four to be exact, which had two daughters which looked like they were closer in the age to them, and for a reason he couldn't quite understand, Sirius found himself getting excited by the prospect of meeting them. When he informed his brother of the news, his brother didn't even bother looking up from his book when he replied, "Stop staring at them like some creep, and mind your own business, Sirius. They are of no consequence to us." It was only when he started to say the next sentence Regulus did lift his head up to him, meeting his eye with a somewhat bitter look on his face. "Come on, do you honestly think that mother would let us befriend them? They are muggles." And that was the thing, wasn't it? Because as disappointing it was to even think about it, it was the truth they could never deny. Their mother would never let them befriend a mere muggle. A muggle-born or half-blood, they could somehow find a way to convince their mother, with some manipulation on his brother's part and ― a little begging on Sirius's part, as manipulating people had never been his forte, as his mother was painfully aware, always muttering about soft hearts and unfitting talents.

Magic was still magic, regardless of what sort of blood they had, but of course, they would never say such a thing to their parents with their traditional views on the society and all, but there were some days when Sirius would have liked nothing more than to scream that truth at them, the truth he felt every time their parents talked awfully of the muggles and alike. Muggles were no less just because they didn't have magic in their blood. Their cousin Andromeda had taught them that lesson very well the year before she went off to run away with some classmate of hers named Ted Tonks, which their cousin Bellatrix told them looked like some poor farmer which belonged in the countryside, but that particular cousin of theirs had always been on the mean side of the family. "I know." Sirius sighed, walking away from the window side to sit across his brother on the edge of the bed. "I just wish ―

"Believe me, brother, I am well aware of your wishes, but the reality just isn't like that. Please be careful of muttering those words, though. You never know who is listening."

Sirius nodded his head in agreement, "Exploding Snap?" he asked. Regulus considered the offer, looking torn between the game and the book he was reading previously, then nodded his head. "Why not?"