Recap:

I wouldn't mind having Remus for company the next couple days. In fact, it seemed like the best thing to happen to me yet.

"You never said why you were here either," I readied myself to hear Remus tell me a story. When he told you about his life he always made it entertaining.

Instead of an explanation he just smiled at me. "A toast, Lily too subjects best left alone." He gently toasted his spoon to mine.

So he did have some secrets. Maybe he wasn't St. Remus after all. I would enjoy finding out.

In the back of my mind I've always had this belief that my life will turn out to be like a muggle film. A romantic and somewhat comedic show, where I meet an unconventionally handsome boy and we dance in the rain after a fight. We would hold hands and he would understand why I do the things I do, he would let me hit him when I was upset. In the week I spent with Remus I started to believe he could have some of those qualities. That the two of us were like a couple in some muggle movie. I was a smart and funny ballerina with a torn-up family; he was a handsome and intelligent boy with a mysterious air.

In fact, the only thing missing from this equation was attraction. There was no spark between Remus and I, even though he was good-looking and I wasn't hideous there were just no fireworks. He was fast becoming one of my favorite people. Remus would hold my hand as we walked down the streets of Diagon Alley. When I insisted on spending three and a half hours in the second hand bookshop he simply followed me in, found a dark corner, and read. Four days after the 'ice cream incident' I decided to test whether or not sparks would come if I kissed him.

It's quite a dilemma when you want to kiss someone, but you're not sure how to do about it. I've never kissed anyone before, not even when I was small. I was Lily-the-unkissed. That was something that had always set me apart from my two friends. Alice and Linnie had been to Hogsmeade with several different boys, I knew all about their different encounters. I shouldn't say encounters—neither of them were overly experienced, just more so than I was.

So I was definitely in a dilemma, to kiss Remus and risk ruining our friendship and giving him a shoddy kiss, or to not kiss Remus and risk not knowing if we could have been more. I decided to kiss him. Tomorrow night we were taking The Knight Bus (it turns out that in order to signal the bus, you have to stick out your wand) into Hogsmeade, they were having a reenactment of the Salem witch trials and I thought it would be interesting to see them from a magical perspective.

"Remus, that was absolutely the worst thing I've ever paid money too see." I said as we walked out of the open-air production of 'A fever to burn', a telling of a witch named Wendelin who enjoyed being burned at the stake.

"Really, I saw a horrible production of Macbeth once. Put on by a bunch of dwarfs, terrible actors, the whole lot of them," he mused.

"I just don't understand why they didn't actually set the actors on fire. The men dressed as flames—that was completely over the top. They're wizards, for God's sake, why didn't they use their magic?" I asked him.

"I believe it was for dramatic affect," he said, his eyebrows raising dangerously close to his hairline.

"The only effect it had was on my head, the woman's screeching has given me a terrible headache," I complained. Every time somebody was 'burned' the audience was encouraged to scream along with the cast. The witch sitting next to Remus had a voice pitched one level above what dogs could hear.

"I think that what you need is a butter beer and a warm bed. We'll just pop quickly into The Three Broomsticks and then be on our way, I don't want to be traveling all night. The bus was busy today, we almost missed the show," he grabbed my hand and led me into The Three Broomsticks.

"Oh, yes. And what a tragedy that would've been," I said sullenly. I handed him a few sickles too buy the drinks; he had bought the tickets to the show.

As he chatted with the pretty bartender, Rosmerta I thought about how I should kiss him. I had decided to do it at the end of the night, as we were getting ready to go to sleep. Remus always walked me to my room before going down the hall to his—it would be the perfect time to kiss him. I had decided that open mouth kissing was fine, but no tongue involved. It was funny how I had to analyze how I was going to kiss him, it was just like doing homework, only more nerve racking.

"Here you are, milady. Two butter beers, on you," he took the seat across from me and handed me a mug.

"And a handsome serving boy, too. Will wonders never cease?" I grinned at him and took a sip.

He chuckled. "Miss Evans, just because you buy me a drink doesn't mean I'm easy. First you go off with a stranger in an ice cream parlor and now this. I'm beginning to think you're some sort of...some sort of a loose women!" he said, his tone perfectly scandalized.

"Loose women?" I said, starting to laugh. He sounded like my great aunt Sally.

"Laugh now, Miss Evans. No one will buy the cow if they can get the milk for free," he said.

"What in the hell does that mean?" I choked on a bit of butter beer. We attracted stares from the group of men playing cards by the door.

He dropped the act. "I have absolutely no idea. You, however have spat some of your butter beer onto my shirt, I think that warrants a second butter beer or even a glass of fire whiskey," he pulled at the spot where I had supposedly spat.

I gave the shirt a closer look. There was a miniscule spot on the sleeve, probably a stain.

"Remus Lupin, that is nothing but a stain. Besides, you're too young to drink," I said. It was about time to go if we wanted to be back at a somewhat decent hour.

Instead of answering me, he walked up to the bar and nonchalantly started ordering something. I watched, in awe of his persuasive power as he came back to the table with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

"How on Earth did you do that?" I asked.

"Rosmerta likes me, I've been coming here since first year with my mates. From time to time we'll order something stronger too drink," He poured me a glass and gave it too me expectantly.

"Remus, I've never had whiskey before. I'm not sure if I should," I fingered the mug, refusing to meet his eyes.

Actually, I was quite surprised that Remus drank. I'm sure that he did it rarely and in moderation, but my image of a saint was rapidly crumbling. Emerging from the dust was a picture of someone who deeply impressed me. Remus knew how to have fun, but he never had it at anyone else's expense.

"That's fine, Lily. We don't have to drink, I just thought you might enjoy a nightcap," he reached to take away my glass.

I wanted to try it, I wanted to let loose. When Alice and Linnie saw me again I would be changed—more willing to have fun.

So I downed the whole glass in one shot. It burned unpleasantly down my throat, made my eyes water. Why would anybody make drinking this a habit? It was absolutely...absolutely what? My mind was already feeling a little bit foggy.

"Slow down, Miss Lily. It's not a muggle drink. Too much, too fast will cause some damage," he sipped his quietly; it didn't seem to affect him.

I poured myself a bit more. The bottle was almost empty already. I drank what I had just put in my glass and daintily wiped my mouth.

"I'm ready to go now, Remus. Don't want to miss the bus," I shakily stood up and grabbed his hand.

After giving the driver, Ernie directions on where to go Remus guided me over too some chairs and gave me a glass of water.

"I shouldn't have let you have two glasses, Lily. Drink this water and you won't feel it as much in the morning," he said, his gaze full of concern.

I took small gulps and tried to stop the pounding in my head. What was it that I had to do tonight? Oh yes, I was going to kiss Remus.

As we touched down in Diagon Alley I gave a final thought to what I was about to do. Yes, my mind decided (with the aide of whiskey, I'm sure) this was a good idea.

Remus led me down the hall to room number seven, where I was staying. He bent down slightly to give me the same kiss on the cheek he had been giving me every night. As he grazed the side of my face I moved over and brought my lips to his, opening my mouth automatically, thoughts of how much I was going to kiss him forgotten.

He pulled me towards him a little, and encircled his hands around my waist. Remus gently pushed his tongue into my mouth and he nibbled on my lips. I moaned slightly and backed up against the door, combing my fingers through his hair. From what Alice had told me, boys liked it when you gave an equal amount of effort in kissing. He pushed his hips against mine and I realized how much he was enjoying what was happening. I gasped a little, and was just deciding to let him into my room when he backed away. The gasp I had made seemed to jolt him back to reality.

"Lily...we can't, I mean, we're friends, Lily. You've had too much to drink. I'm sorry, I should go," he turned away and too his room.

Well, one thing was for certain, I thought as I lay down to sleep. There was definitely a spark between us.

The next morning I met Remus for breakfast like nothing had happened. After seeing my face, he ordered us both strong cups of coffee. I thanked the server when she brought out the coffee and the fried egg sandwich I had been eating since I got here and yawned.

Remus was watching me quietly over his newspaper. I took a big gulp of coffee and winced—I had more of a headache than I did last night. My first hangover, an event to be remembered.

"Lily, about what happened last night...I'm really sorry. I just lost control for a moment. You had too much to drink and I took advantage of that. We're friends, Lily," his tone seemed a bit desperate, it bothered me how much more that kiss seemed to mean to me than too him. He was nodding to himself as though he was agreeing for me; I had never seen Remus act like this before.

"I will decide when I've had too much to drink, Remus Lupin. Last night's kiss was good for me...I don't know about you but I enjoyed it, I don't understand why you don't want to do it again," I glowered at him.

He pushed the hair back from his eyes and sighed. "Lily, you know James fancies you. You know he's fancied you since third year. I'm his friend, Lily. I can't do that to him," he said, looking at me earnestly and bidding me to understand him.

James Potter. Captain of the Quidditch team, at the top of his class, and all around jackass. He was one of the reasons I hated egotistical people so much, he was one of the reasons I didn't date. Nobody wanted to date someone Potter fancied, because nobody wanted to get on his bad side. I added Remus to the list of reasons why I should hate Potter.

"If he's really your friend, Remus he won't mind that we see each other. You know I can't stand him, there's no chance between us. It's you that I...it's you that I want," I said quietly.

He looked as though he was going to reply, but suddenly an owl landed right in the middle of our table. It held two letters, both addressed to me. Ignoring Remus for the moment, I opened the first one up.

Lily,

It's good to hear that you're taking a much needed vacation. I asked daddy about whether he had heard anything about a young witch breaking the law. He said that unless you had mass murdered a colony of frogs, no he hadn't heard anything. Sadly, I'm not coming to Diagon Alley until the day before the term starts. It's taken me quite a while to get back to you because we are in Japan. I'm not sure why, it has to do with daddy's job. Mother has opened a new shop and I've bought yours and Lin's Christmas present. It is a bit early, but I thought you might like something other than the usual stock of books and socks this year. I hope you've found some company.

Love,

Alice

"Who's it from?" Remus asked.

"Alice, she says she bought me some lingerie and that she hopes I've haven't murdered any frogs lately," I really wasn't in the mood to make sense and I enjoyed the look on Remus's face.

When he didn't respond I continued. "I really hope you aren't picturing me in lingerie, killing little tadpoles," I said.

I just laughed uneasily and I opened the next letter, from Belinda.

Dear Lily,

I hope you're well when you get this letter and that you haven't been taken into custody for attacking Vernon. He does sound rather unpleasant. I'm guessing you've gotten Alice's letter by now and have heard she won't be able to visit you. It sounds like she's having a marvelous time in Japan, I'm very jealous. You can't imagine the boredom I've had to endure with my parents...or maybe you can, considering you've been in Diagon Alley all by yourself. Mother and Father don't understand the importance of spending time with friends and as a direct result I'm not allowed to live the rest of the summer in a hotel room with you. I've sent you five galleons, just in case you're running out of money. Don't worry about paying me back, I was worried about you and kept having dreams where you looked suspiciously like a hobo. I can't have unclean and homeless friends, at least not too many. Meet me at Gringott's the day before school starts, we'll find Alice and do some last minute shopping and socializing. Take care of yourself.

Love from,

Belinda

It sounded just like Belinda, concerned but with a solution. I could just picture her writing the letter in her pink bathrobe, her blonde hair braided back neatly. I missed my friends more than I had thought. True to her word, Belinda's letter contained five golden coins to last me the rest of the summer and buy me a few more school supplies.

I looked up at Remus. "We can talk more about this later. I've just realized how much I've neglected being a girl. I'm going to buy some new robes, meet me in my room at 3," I said. Before he could get a chance to object I swept out of the room.

It was time for me to do something I truly enjoyed. Clothes shopping.

Author's Note: Thank you, everyone for the reviews. I tried to make this chapter a little longer, but when I read through it sounded rushed. If anyone would be willing to beta I would appreciate it.