Summer of Second Year

Lily was wearing a wedding dress and beaming all over. Her face was bright red and flushed, and in her hands were a bouquet of roses and wildflowers.

The minister had asked her, "Do you, Lily Evans, take this man to be your husband?"

Lily had answered with a strong, "I do."

"And do you, James Potter, take his woman as your wife?"

"I do."

James had lifted her veil up and kissed her lips. The guests were cheering, but Lily barely noticed anything. Her eyes were only for the man in front of her…James Potter.

Lily woke up, her eyes wide. She had the same dream for the past three weeks since she had been staying with the Potters. Her face was always shining proudly, and she saw James' handsome face positively beaming down at everyone in sight. She even once saw Sirius, supposedly the best man, chasing around a mad dog who had stolen his wand. Arabella was also there as the maid-of-honor, where she had burst into tears after Lily and James pronounced their death vows. It was sort of funny, really, the dream. Lily wondered if James had a similar one.

"Lils?" It was Arabella's sleepy voice, and she heard a distinct yawn from her best friend. "You awake again?"

"Go back to sleep, Bells, I'm fine," muttered Lily, rubbing her eyes.

"But—" Arabella was almost wide-awake now.

"Belle," said Lily sternly, causing Arabella to open her eyes widely.

"Belle?" she questioned.

Lily grinned. "It's nice, isn't it? I was getting sick of 'Bella' and 'Bells', so I came up with 'Belle'. Like it?"

"Whatever." Then with a final yawn, Arabella's head propped back down on her pillow and she was immediately fast asleep again.

Lily sighed. Ah, how she and Sirius spoke the same language. Sirius, too, loved to sleep all day and night as well. But James…she needed to see James. Yet she scolded herself for thinking so.

He needs his sleep, she thought to herself. Just like you do. Now…go back to sleep before you wake up anyone else in the house.

Arabella was supposed to have her own room, since there were about twenty rooms in the Potter mansion, but Bella had refused to part with her best friend and insisted on sharing a room with Lily. Lily had groaned at the thought of a snoring Bella, but gave in at the end.

James Potter. She was supposed to marry the moron after Hogwarts. Lily hadn't told her parents about it yet. She knew her mum would rejoice and throw a party, her dad would smile silently to himself, and Petunia would look horrified at the prospect of having a boy who hasn't brushed his hair in years as a brother-in-law.

And Lily, well, Lily wasn't sure what she would be like. When she had found out that James Potter was to be her future husband, and that she'd have a kid and die, sacrificing herself for the baby, it was a huge shock indeed. Lily supposed she didn't hate James so much as she did in her first year, but she didn't like him, either. She supposed the word "dislike" would fit in her feelings for James.

Who knew or cared what he thought. Sure, James was athletic and popular, and sort of cute, but Lily didn't care. She thought that Remus was wonderful, but he was only a brother to her. After all, if Jennifer found out that she liked Remus, the girl would probably tear her up into pieces. Jenny loved Remus to death, and Lily wanted to live a few years longer.

There was a knock on the door and Lily jumped out of the comfortable bed she was snuggled in. Arabella gave a loud grunt in the bed across from her, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Come in," she whispered to the door. The doorknob turned and in came James Potter, his jet-black hair untidy as ever.

Lily's curiosity had faded. "What are you doing here?"

"I had some stupid wedding dream about you and me," he said, desperately trying to shrug it all off. "Stupid, really, how you and I get married and stuff. Especially after the fact that you have that Harry."

"I thought you liked Harry."

"I do. But this stuff is all too annoying. I wish that I could have a normal life like Sirius, Remus, Peter, or all your friends. But it just had to be me. When I told Mum and Dad about that whole future stuff, they were ecstatic. Mum was crying and Dad was smiling. It was hopeless."

Lily smiled slightly. "I haven't told Mum and Dad yet. I know that Mum would overreact more than your mum did. A bit scatter-brained, my mum, but loving, nevertheless." She sighed. "I wish I could get that scene when you kiss me at the wedding out of my mind. It's corrupting my brain."

"I thought it was already corrupted."

"Hey!"

James grinned. "Naturally, since Arabella's a corrupted soul. But then again, so is Sirius. So I'm corrupted, too. Happy now?"

"Of course."

"Why am I here again?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Potter, you're hopeless."

"I know. Wait…it was about that stupid wedding dream, wasn't it?"

"Good job, Potter. You remembered something for once in your life!"

James sniffed. "I'm injured."

"Good."

"That's mean!"

"I'm happy for you Potter. Now git."

"Lils!" Arabella was wide awake again, and yawning. "What are you doing up again? And…what the hell is he doing here?" She sat straight up, eyes wide.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. He just came in here."

"Why?"

She was annoyed. "Do I look like James Potter to you? How should I know?"

"Well, I was directing the question more to James, anyway. He should be answering…James?"

But James had fallen asleep on Lily's half-covered legs.

"Get him off me!" squealed Lily, flapping her arms helplessly. I'm not sleeping with him in this bed tonight!"

Arabella started laughing loudly, and the door opened again, this time revealing Sirius, his usual hair in messy tufts like James'.

"What's going on here?" he asked sleepily. "Is this some sort of slumber party?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, Sirius, James came in here, we were talking, then he fell asleep on my legs."

Sirius grinned in delight. "So…our favorite couple sharing a bed, eh? How romantic!" He pretended to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye. "Oh, wait 'till Remus hears and he'll—"

"You won't tell him, will you?" asked Lily, though it was useless. Sirius was even more gossipy than some of the most gossipy girls Lily knew—including the dreaded Deanna Jackson.

Sirius snickered. "Nice try, Lils, but maybe next time it might convince me a little bit more."

Lily sighed. "Forget I even tried. But Remus won't tease me too much about it, and neither would Vi, too much, but Jen…" She shivered.

"Why do you think our Remie won't tease you about it?" asked Sirius.

"Because he's really sweet, not like you two hooligans."

"Hooligan?" asked James, sitting up wearily. "What?"

"Oh good, the drool-boy is finally awake. Now, Potter, get out of my bed, or I will force you to."

"All right, all right. Besides, it's my bed. This is my house."

"Yes, it is, but since I'm occupying this bed for the summer, it's currently mine."

"Fine, then. Come on Sirius, let's get out of here." James heaved himself off the bed and steered a half-asleep Sirius out of the room and closed the door.

"What was that?" asked Bella, her eyelids slowly drooping.

"Who knows. Let's go to bed before anything else happens. I'm exhausted."

Arabella responded with a thump as her head hit the pillow again.

***

"Lil, you look terrible," commented Jennifer, staring at Lily's blood-shot eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Just a little nighttime interference," replied Lily, glaring at James and Sirius, who were about as tired as she and Bella were.

"Potter and Black, eh?"

"As always." Lily sighed.

"You were already awake as it is," snapped James from across the table.

"Kids, don't argue," reprimanded Mrs. Potter.

"Sorry, Mum," said James.

"Sorry, Mrs. Potter," said the others.

"Why did you go into the girls' room, James?" asked Mr. Potter sternly. "You know you're supposed to be staying in your own room, or one of you friend's, but not a girl's room. What were you—?"

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Potter, James goes into the girls' dormitory all the time at Hogwarts," interrupted Sirius brightly. James glared at him.

Mrs. Potter dropped her wand. "This—this isn't true, is it, Jamie? Dear God, please say this is another one of Sirius' jokes."

"Er—" James looked at them all nervously. "It—it's true, Mum."

Mr. Potter's face turned sterner and Mrs. Potter nearly fainted. Sirius smiled guiltily at James and mouthed, "Sorry."

"But Sirius goes there more often," he blurted, and grinned at a shocked Sirius.

"Sirius has his own parents to deal with, but we expect more responsibility from you, young man," said Mr. Potter, frowning.

James closed his eyes and waited for the blow. What would it be this time? Getting his Invisibility Cloak confiscated for a week? Locking up his broom for the summer? He shivered at the thoughts.

"Since we have guests at this home this summer, there will be no punishment."

James' mouth opened uncertainly. "Are you serious?" he croaked.

"No, he's Sirius," said Mr. Potter, pointing at Sirius and chuckling.

He groaned. "Not that again. It was amusing maybe for the first three times, but it's getting way old."

"I still think it's funny," said Mr. Potter, shrugging.

"Mum?"

Mrs. Potter smiled. "Oh, I don't blame you, dear. It's all in the Potter blood, I suppose. When your father and I were at Hogwarts, he visited our girls' dormitory all the time, and we frequently spent the night in there…" She winked.

"That was too much information revealed, Mrs. Potter," said Sirius, looking sick.

"Why, Sirius?" asked Lily teasingly. "Wouldn't you LOVE to do that with Bella?"

Sirius grinned. "Lil, you know me too well."

Jennifer dropped her spoon. "You mean you want to spend a whole night with Bella in the same room?"

"Of course. You obviously don't know me well enough."

"And I definitely don't want to, either. Remus, you knew dog-boy was this perverted?"

Remus nodded. "Who doesn't know? You already know too; you just don't want to hear about it. I suppose it is sickening."

"All right, why are we talking about this?" asked Lily loudly. "Not an appropriate subject for the breakfast table."

"I agree with Lily," said Arabella, speaking up for the first time.

"That's because you're part of the conversation," piped up James.

Arabella glared at him menacingly. Violet and Peter were silent, as usual, and Jennifer was chatting incessantly.

"So," said James, squirming uncomfortably, "want to play Quidditch outside?"

Lily glared at him. "What do you think? No."

"Scared, are you?" James snickered.

"You know I'm afraid of heights," snapped Lily in a slightly wavering voice.

"Exactly," replied James smugly.

-

"I don't know why I'm doing this," sighed Lily, as she clutched the handle of her broom tightly, her knuckles white.

"Hey Evans, enjoying yourself?" called James. He was an extremely agile flyer, gliding gracefully across the small Quidditch field.

"No," yelled Lily. "All because of you. You know I can't fly!"

"You're doing fine," said James, smiling sympathetically, as he flew right next to her. "Just a little practice and you'll be a natural."

"I don't want to be," said Lily shakily.

James shrugged. "Fine, do whatever you want, but I'm warning you, you're missing out on very educational stuff here."

"Educational?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "Quidditch is supposed to be educational? Or do you mean fun?"

"Same thing." James shrugged indifferently and flew away.

"Argh!" Lily sighed and began to tail up James, though she was a rather slow flyer as well. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bird flew right past her, causing her to slide off her broom, her hands grasping the handle and her feet dangling in mid-air.

James was enjoying himself immensely and decided to check on Lily so he could tease her again. But when he saw her dangling up fifty feet in mid-air, he cried, "Lily! Hold on!"

He grasped his broom handle firmly and zoomed past the field. When he reached Lily, he told her to swing her legs over his broom and grab the broom floating in mid-air.

"I-I don't know if I can," stuttered Lily. Her large green eyes started to fill with tears.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not going to let anything happen to you," said James softly. "Now come up here with me and we'll fly down together."

Lily bravely swung her legs over James' broom, grabbed her own broom, and they took off until they reached the ground.

"James…thanks," mumbled Lily, embarrassed, as she got off his broom. "I guess I'm not a great flyer like you are, though I kind of wish I was."

"It's my fault, Lil, I persuaded you to come fly with me. Forgive?"

"Sure."

"So are we friends?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

"I thought you'd say that."

"So why'd you ask me?"

"I—don't know."

Lily snorted.

When they got back inside, the rest of the friends were playing either chess or Exploding Snap. Jennifer's face was downcast as Remus beat her at chess for the fourth time in a row.

"Remie, can you just let me win for once?"

"Of course not," said Remus practically. "That would be cheating. Now that you've lost so many times to the champion, you learn something every time you lose. That's how you improve."

"You sound just like Professor Wickham," muttered Jennifer.

"Do I?" asked Remus delightedly.

"Now I know why you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor later on, Remus," said James, chuckling.

"I wonder who I'll favor," said Remus thoughtfully.

"The Gryffindors of course!" cried Sirius, his head peeking from behind an armchair. "Knowing Remus, though, he'll probably be nice to the Slytherins, too."

"Well…" began Remus.

"So you will?" asked Lily incredulously.

"Er—"

"Of course he will; that's Remus for you," said Jennifer, interrupting Remus.

"What she said," finished Remus, smiling gratefully at his girlfriend.

Lily and James both groaned at the same time.

"I hate this love junk," said James grumpily.

"Tell me about it," muttered Lily.

"Why? You guys kiss all the time," stated Jennifer, grinning.

"Do not," they both muttered.

"Do too," chirped Remus.

"Remus, you're supposed to be sensible," chided Lily. "Or—at least you were for a few months last year. Until you were together with Jen; I think she was the one who corrupted you."

"Hey!" cried Jennifer, pouting. Lily laughed.

They were interrupted by the sound of giggling and groaning. As they turned around, Arabella and Sirius were lying together on the couch, and apparently Sirius had started to tickle her.

"How inappropriate," muttered Remus.

"Surely you don't think so, Remie," said Jennifer, smiling. She cuddled up near Remus, and kissed him.

"Ugh," commented Lily, disgusted. Jennifer pulled away and grinned at Lily.

"Come on, Lils, make up with James and be friends. Then you guys will be snogging even worse than Sirius and Bella."

"Hey!" was the response from a Bella who was promptly pulled into a kiss by Sirius.

"Is kissing all you guys ever do?" asked Lily, exasperated.

"No…there's also snogging, but pretty much," replied Arabella, before claiming Sirius' lips again.

James made a face, then drew Lily towards him and started to snog her.

"JAMES WHATEVER-YOUR-MIDDLE-NAME-IS POTTER!" she shrieked. "What is the meaning of this?"

James pulled her away and grinned. "I just thought you were a little left out and needed some sugar like the rest of your friends. Even Violet and Peter are doing their own 'thing' back there."

Violet and Peter quickly pulled away, both very red, while Arabella, Sirius, Remus, and Jennifer laughed out loud.

Lily was blushing furiously. "Oh you—"

But before she could finish her sentence, Mrs. Potter had announced that supper was ready. Sirius bounded to the kitchen before any of the others.

"Sirius!" laughed Mrs. Potter, grinning at the hungry boy's glances at the various dishes. "You're eating in the Marauder dining room, remember? Not in the kitchen."

"I know, Mrs. Potter, I just wanted to see the food first."

Mrs. Potter laughed, and Lily asked curiously, "The Marauder dining room?"

"Oh!" Mrs. Potter smiled. "The boys came up with it. We have three dining rooms, and the one where we eat when we have James' friends over was named by all four of them."

"If only they'd study as hard, then they'd do better than me," stated Lily, before she could help herself. Mrs. Potter looked delighted.

"Yes, dear, it's true. How I've tried telling James, but he wouldn't listen at all. Poor boy has enough on his mind just like you, dear. So you will become Lily Potter later on? Though it is much too early to say anything, but I would like to welcome you to the family, Lily. Later on, of course." Her eyes twinkled.

Lily smiled. "Well…James and I aren't exactly on the greatest terms at this moment," she said bluntly.

"Understandable, Lily. Mr. Potter and I got along horribly when we were at Hogwarts until we finally confessed our love during graduation. A bit late, if you ask me, but I'm happy to have James. He is an only child, after all, and I personally think that Sirius, Remus, Peter, as well as you and your friends are part of the family as well. It gets lonely with only the three of us, and James and his father certainly don't think the way I think."

"Oi! Lils! Aren't you eating?" bellowed Arabella from the Marauder dining room.

"Coming Bells!" called Lily. She went inside the "Marauder dining room" and gasped.

The ceiling was extremely high with a large crystal chandelier towering above them, majestic and grand. The dining table was large, made of mahogany and lined with gold. Lily stared at it all, unable to believe that a family could be so rich.

"After you're finished admiring the room, Sirius would have already eaten three-quarters of your plate," said James, amused.

"Oh! Sorry." Lily sat down next to Jennifer and began eating with the rest of them.

"Your Mum's a great cook, James," said Arabella, through a mouthful of potatoes. "These are good potatoes 'ere."

"Bells, don't eat with your mouth full," chided Lily.

"Yes, Mother Lily."

"Well—er—actually, my mum didn't make this," said James, his ears going red. "Jacey made it. Well, along with Chad, Rupert, and all the rest of our house-elves."

"You have house-elves?" asked Jennifer, her eyes wide.

"Er—yeah." James' face was now extremely pink.

"You guys are rich!" gushed Arabella.

"Erm—I suppose," replied James, shrugging.

"What do you mean 'you suppose'?" demanded Arabella. "Of course you're—"

Lily cleared her throat and glared at her friend, giving her the "that's-not-very-tactful" look.

"Oh, sorry," muttered Arabella, blushing. James smiled at Lily in gratitude.

"We need to get to Hogsmeade soon, Jamie-boy, my supply of Dungbombs is at stake! I haven't been to Zonko's for ages now," cried Sirius, jumping up and down.

"All right, Sirius, I'll ask Mum if we can all go tomorrow," said James, rolling his eyes. "We definitely need to get Snape back again for telling us off and having us get detentions again."

"Zonko's?" asked Lily, confused. "What's that?"

"It's a joke shop," said James, grinning. "It's where we get all our supplies for our pranks. You know how I turned your hair black? Black dye from Zonko's' best."

"I've heard of Hogsmeade," said Lily vaguely, chewing on a chicken leg. "It's supposed to be the only non-Muggle settlement in Britain and—"

"Yeah, but that's not why it's so cool!" said Sirius enthusiastically. "We'll introduce it all to you, Lils. Honeydukes…The Three Broomsticks…Zonko's…Gladrag's Wizarding Wear…everything!"

"It's the greatest," agreed Remus. "Has every single sweet there is in Honeydukes. Ice Mice, Acid Pops, Cockroach Clusters…"

"We gave Snape one once," interrupted Sirius, grinning. "He nearly choked to death after he swallowed it. Then Remus told us to take him to the Hospital Wing. You shouldn't have done that, Remus, he could have taken ill and never come to Hogwarts again. That definitely would've been sweet revenge. Always the spoilsport, you are." He shook his head, reminiscing at the memory.

Lily snorted. "Wish I could've seen his face."

"It was as white as paint!" cried Peter.

"Paint isn't white, Pete," said Violet, blinking.

"Well…there's such thing as white paint!"

"But—"

"Oh, Violet, loosen up, will you?" joked Arabella. "You're almost as stiff as Lily here."

"Hey!" cried Lily.

"Sorry Lils, but once we get you into Hogsmeade tomorrow, you'll be a whole different person. We should go to Gladrag's Wizarding Wear and get you a dress robe, then go to Dervish and Banges and—"

"We're going to Zonko's," said Sirius, narrowing his eyes.

"Gladrag's!"

"Zonko's!"

"All right, we'll go to both," said James, trying to settle the dispute, "though I'm really not a great fan of going to Gladrag's. Mum always takes me there for dress robes, though. It's always black velvet," he sighed, depressed.

"You need them for all those parties we're invited to, James," said Mrs. Potter sternly, coming into the room. "As a matter of fact, visiting Gladrag's would be a good thing tomorrow. We've been invited to a Midsummer party by the McKinnons and I want you all to have new dress robes."

James groaned. "But Mr. McKinnon works for Malfoy's dad. That means the Malfoys will be there, too!"

Mrs. Potter sighed. "Yes, as well as the Snapes, but I do assure you, James, we will not be socializing with those families."

"Yes, Malfoy's just a big stick-in-the-mud, if you as me," roared Mr. Potter, also coming in. "A no-good, little weasel who'll never succeed in the Ministry."

"Come, Daniel, no need to speak ill of our kind," snapped Mrs. Potter, though she smiled amusedly after her husband. "Though it is rather true, I must say, Lucieta Malfoy and her no-good husband are really a disgrace to the name of wizard."

"Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and their little gang called Lily a 'Mudblood'," stated Jennifer, going furious. "It's an insult to my family as well as Lily! My father's a Muggle and…"

"Jen, calm down," murmured Remus quietly, grasping her hand. Jennifer smiled at him, but her eyes were still angry.

"Did he now?" asked Mr. Potter, standing up.

"The old rat never changed," sighed Mrs. Potter, also going angry. "Well, we'll avoid the Malfoys for sure. And the Snapes, they're no good either."

"Severus Snape has a crush on Lil-y," teased Arabella.

"I share sorrow with you, Lily," said Mrs. Potter sadly, while Mr. Potter roared with laughter.

"Oh, how I'd love to see Snape's boy go heartbroken!" he cried.

"Dan!" cried Mrs. Potter, shocked.

Violet leaned over to the boys and whispered, "I didn't know your parents were so much like…kids."

James grinned. "That's the good thing about them."

***

"Wow…" whispered Lily in awe, as they walked around the village of Hogsmeade. "This place is amazing!"

"It's much better when you don't have to dread the prospect of going to Gladrag's Wizarding Wear and getting dress robes for old Malfoy's dinner party," groaned Sirius.

"I thought it was the McKinnons' party," said Lily.

"It is, Sirius is just being a great prat," replied Arabella, glaring at the miserable boy beside her.

"Well, Mr. McKinnon is probably going to let Malfoy's dad run the whole party, since the whole family's afraid of them."

"Sirius Black, you know that's not true," said Jennifer, matter-of-factly. "The McKinnons are one of the most prominent and powerful wizard families in our world. Besides the Potters, of course." She smiled at James.

James blushed. "Aww…we're not that great."

"Sure you are. Mum told me that your whole family are Heirs of Gryffindor."

James shrugged. "Rumors."

"Not."

"Why are we talking about Heirs of Gryffindor here?" asked Lily crossly. "Where's the store anyway? Come on, as soon as we go in, the sooner we can get it over with."

"Finally, someone agrees with us!" exclaimed Sirius. "I thought all you girls loved to shop, shop, and shop your whole life."

"Don't be an idiot, Sirius, that's Deanna," snapped Arabella.

"She certainly has a lot of make-up on every day," said James, remember several occasions when the Gryffindor girl plastered perfume and lipstick all over her face and strutted around the common room, attracting all the boys' attentions except for the Marauders'.

"All right, let's go in and get it over with," snapped Lily.

Inside was surprisingly cool, which made the eight of them cool down very nicely, for their faces were as ripe and red as a tomato. The radio was on, playing a fast tune by the Weird Sisters, and there were columns of robes, socks, and other garments lined up neatly in rows and shelves.

"May I help you?" asked a young woman politely.

"Er—we're looking for dress robes," said James awkwardly.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Any in particular?" she asked coolly.

When James didn't answer, the woman peered into his face closer and gave a small scream. "You're a Potter, aren't you?"

James shrugged. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Always the Potter manner. How is your family?"

"My family?" repeated James, bewildered. "What about my family?"

The woman chuckled. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what, exactly?"

"That I'm a Potter as well."

James stared at her. "You are not."

"All right, I love how this conversation is going here, but shouldn't we buy the dress robes and get out of here, Jamie-boy?" asked Sirius impatiently.

"Yeah, Sirius," replied James absently, but he turned to the woman again. "You're not a Potter. If you were, I would know you."

The woman laughed. "I'm Leanne Potter, your cousin. Our family is so big; you can barely know everyone in it. Mum told me about you—you're James, aren't you? James Henry Potter?"

"Your middle name's Henry?" questioned Lily, stepping forward. Leanne smiled.

"Is this your girlfriend, James?"

"No," said James crossly. "If you're really my 'cousin', then who's your mum—my aunt?"

"Why, you mean Mum? She's your Aunt Josie, James, it's quite rude to insult your favorite aunt."

James opened his mouth, but snapped it shut. "No—no, you can't be Aunt Josie's daughter. I've been to Aunt Josie's house at least one hundred times in all my life, and I've never seen you before."

Leanne shrugged. "That's because…Mum barely knew that I was alive too. When I was twelve, you were born. After I graduated from Hogwarts, I left England to travel to the States and other parts of the world. I met a young man by the name of Jonathan Harrison, and he proposed to me a year later. I wrote to Mum frequently, since she was so anxious, but Jonathan died from an accident shortly after we were engaged." She sighed. "I stopped writing to Mum after that. I was so overcome from grief that I couldn't bear to face the world any longer. So I bought a flat in the outskirts of London and lived in seclusion. After I stopped writing, Mum was worried and then came to the conclusion that I was dead."

"But—I was five when you left," said James, overwhelmed by her story. "I don't really remember you…"

"That's because I must have changed so much," replied Leanne heavily. "Of course, you were my favorite cousin, and I loved you so much. A few months ago I reunited with Mum and I've been anxiously waiting to meet you for a while."

"Does the rest of the family know?"

"Every person, including your parents. You're the only Potter who doesn't know."

"All right, I believe you."

Leanne grinned. "Good. Now, why don't you introduce me to your friends here, James."

"Oh—er—this is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, my best friends. And this is Arabella Figg, Jennifer Dean, and Violet Walker, my other three friends."

"What about this young redhead?"

"That's Lily," said James blatantly, earning a glare from his enemy. "We don't—er—exactly like each other." He decided to leave out the future stuff for later.

"Definitely not," stated Lily, poking her tongue at him.

Leanne laughed. "I like young love."

"It's not young love!" cried the two, blushing.

"Yeah, yeah. All right, you need dress robes, do you? Don't worry, I'm an expert, I'll get you settled in a jiffy…"

Twenty minutes later, the eight of them came out with heavy bundles of different colored dress robes for each of them.

"What a nice way to meet long-lost cousins," said James dryly, as they headed off to where Mr. and Mrs. Potter were.

"James! Finally…I was worried," said Mrs. Potter, waving at them anxiously.

"I met Leanne Potter," was James' short response.

Mr. Potter cleared his throat and shifted nervously. "So—what do you think of her?"

"I still don't quite believe her."

"That's understandable. Of course, we believed her right away, because we've known Leanne all our lives. You, of course, were only five when she left home. By looking at her good-humored ways and natural smile, we could easily tell it was her, especially your Aunt Josie. She nearly cried a whole river when she saw Leanne standing at her doorstep."

***

"God, do I hate this," said James impatiently, squirming into his dress robes. "Malfoy and Snape are going to be crying by the time they see me in this thing."

"It's not too bad," said Sirius, admiring himself in the mirror. "I do look good, don't I?"

James snorted. "Sirius, I don't give a Galleon about how you look. What about me?"

"Why, want to impress Lily?"

He ignored him. "Well…so, how do I look?"

"Like a Malfoy."

"Very funny."

"I'm serious."

"I know you're Sirius, I haven't forgotten your name you know." James smirked.

Sirius groaned. "Not this again. I thought you said that that joke is as old as the hills."

"I know. I just want to get on your nerves since you're getting on mine."

After the two boys got downstairs, the girls were already waiting for them. James was very impressed with Arabella, Jennifer, and Violet, but Lily was who really caught his attention. She was wearing elegant dress robes of light green, bringing out the brilliance of her eyes, and her hair was in ringlets. She smiled awkwardly at James as he continued to stare and gape openly at her.

"Any day now, James," said Mr. Potter, chuckling.

James snapped out of his trance. "Huh? What did you say?"

"Heads-over-heels," muttered Sirius.

"Oh yeah, Lils, would you be my escort and partner?" he asked politely, directing his attention fully to the redhead again.

"Er—sure," said Lily, trying hard not to giggle; though she thought that James looked rather cute.

"Thanks," he said happily, grinning from ear-to-ear. Lily distinctly saw Arabella roll her eyes, and she stifled a laugh.

Jennifer smiled, and whispered something in Remus' ear, and he smiled as well. Then they both leaned over and told Arabella and Sirius, and they smiled, too.

"All right, what are you all smiling about?" asked Lily loudly. "It's probably something about me and James…isn't it?"

"You'll find out," said Violet, grinning mysteriously. Lily groaned.

"Probably going to play matchmaker again," said James, rolling his eyes. "Bells and Siri-boy are trying to get us back for matchmaking them."

"Nah, I'm actually thankful that you did, James, or else Sirius and I would still be fighting, since we're too damn stubborn to make up with each other," said Arabella genuinely.

"Wow, Bella, that must be the most sentimental thing you've ever said in your life!" cried Lily, grinning at her friend teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," muttered the other girl.

-

"Lily! What a pleasant surprise!" Running towards her was none other than Severus Snape. Lily groaned inwardly as he gave a short bow to her.

"Would you like to be my escort?" he asked hopefully.

But before Lily could reply, James said coldly, "Sorry, Snapie, but Lily's my escort."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "She is not. She's mine."

"I'm sorry, Severus, but James asked me before and I said yes," replied Lily, her cheeks red.

"Really?" He looked as if he were going to cry, but restrained himself quickly. "Well, I'd better go find Lucius and Evan." Then he strolled off, muttering furiously about Potter always stealing everything he tried to grasp.

"I feel sort of bad for him," said Lily wistfully, watching the boy angrily talk to Malfoy.

"Does this mean you're going to ditch me for the greasy kid?" asked James helplessly. He didn't want to lose Lily just then.

Lily laughed. "Of course not! It just never occurred to me that Slytherins like Snape actually had feelings. I just assumed they were just blocks of ice that wouldn't allow anyone to break through their cold exterior."

"Very poetic," commented James, relieved that Lily wasn't about to dump him for Snape.

"You didn't think I'd dump you off for Snape, did you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Er—yeah, I actually did."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Why did you think that?"

"Because you hate me."

"Look, I don't 'hate' you, I 'dislike' you."

"Same thing."

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut. "Yeah, I suppose it does."

The music then started, and many adults and teenagers were on the floor, dancing.

"So…want to dance?" asked James uncomfortably.

"Sure," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

They started dancing to the slow tune, and were soon the main couple on the dance floor. James' elegant moves and Lily's graceful steps made them admired by both the grown wizards and the younger wizards. Mrs. Potter was wiping her eyes, smiling, and Mr. Potter was grinning. Along the side, the six other friends were smiling like maniacs, and Sirius muttered to Arabella, "You owe me five Sickles."

The couple, however, did not impress Snape, Malfoy, and their little gang of Slytherins at all.

"Potter stole my girl," mumbled Snape, glaring at James menacingly.

"Why would you want a Mudblood for a girl anyway, Severus?" asked Wilkes, wrinkling his nose.

"Yeah, think about what your father would say if he found out," said Rosier, frowning.

"She's not a Mudblood," said Snape quietly. "She's more than that. Much more."

"Well, what more can she be?" snapped Malfoy impatiently. "First of all, she's a Mudblood. Second of all, she's dancing with Potter and is friends with Potter and his little pathetic gang. She's not even pretty!"

"To me, she's beautiful."

"Snape, get over it," said Lestrange, rolling his eyes. "Though Maria Santiago is very attractive, don't you think?" He was referring to one of the prettier Slytherin girls (even though there aren't any), who hated nearly everyone in sight except for himself.

"She'd be pretty fine if she didn't hate all of us," said Rosier thoughtfully.

"Still…your father would be furious, Severus, if he found out," said Wilkes quietly. "I mean, he hates Mudbloods."

"Lily is NOT a Mudblood!" screeched Snape. "I…I love her."

The other Slytherins nearly fell out of the chairs they were sitting in.

"You're in love with a Mudblood, Snape?" asked Malfoy incredulously. "How low can you get?"

"Severus, we'll be keeping your mind off that Evans girl," said Lestrange smoothly. "After all, we are entrusted to serve under our Lord…"

"You're right, Lestrange, the Dark Lord needs us to gain power so he can rule the wizarding world," said Snape, smiling evilly. "Come, I'm going to find Father and discuss our plans."

"Looks like Snape 'loves' you, Evans," said James, snorting into his Yorkshire pudding as he heard Snape's outburst. "Poor thing."

"I thought you hated Snape, Potter," said Lily, frowning.

"Oh, I do, I was saying that you were the poor thing."

"Yeah…right. Whatever."

***

"Can you believe there's only two more weeks until Hogwarts is opened again?" asked Arabella, sighing. "It seems like the summer's been so short."

"Yeah. I'm going to miss it here. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are really nice people. But I am looking forward to entering that nice old castle again. I feel much more at home at Hogwarts than in my own home."

"Well, you're going to have to like James' parents, since they'll be your mother- and father-in-law," said Jennifer brightly.

"Whatever," said Lily, not paying any attention to what they were saying.

"You know, Lils, you say 'whatever' too many times."

"Whatever."

"Have a better attitude than that, young lady," said Arabella sternly.

"Wow! For a moment there, Bells, I thought you sounded like McGonagall," said Lily, impressed.

The four girls smiled at each other and laughed, and Lily looked through the window. Tomorrow they would be going to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies for the Third Year. The Potter Mansion was very nice, but she wanted to get back to Hogwarts again—her real home.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for some of the insignificant characters like…Jennifer, Violet, Professors Wickham and Hurst, etc. J.K. Rowling owns Arabella Figg along with the familiar characters. Yes, Arabella Figg is a real character; if you read the fourth Harry Potter book carefully, they mention her slightly at the second to last chapter. Called "The Parting of the Ways", or something, I dunno.

Yes, I know, this chapter was abominable, but I'm sorry, I'm having Writer's Block right now along with a lot of schoolwork, projects, and tests. I'll promise that the chapters in the summer will be MUCH better! And that's only like what…three months away?