Disclaimer: Same as the last one, I don't live in a castle…
Lily squinted to see who the people were that her mother was talking to. It had been a while since she had been to the country club so it was possible that she didn't know them. However, new people rarely joined since it was an old money sort of club. As she approached them Lily still didn't recognize either one of them. But she was interested in finding out who the tall handsome face belonged to, as Maddi always said he was hott, hott, hott.
Suddenly, Lily's mother spotted her and called over to her to in greeting. Both of the strangers looked up from the conversation and stared at Lily. Soon enough she was at her mother's side and awkwardly greeted both people.
"Oh Lily, I don't think you've met the Burrs, this is Mrs. Burr and her son Adam. They moved here a few months ago and joined the club last month. I'm sure you'll be interested to know that Adam is also a tennis player. In fact, we were all just discussing the possibility of you two playing in coed doubles together this summer." Lily could tell her mother found Adam to be an acceptable boy and was intent on having Lily get to know him.
With dark hair, navy blue eyes, and a tall lanky figure Adam would be nice eye candy and Lily couldn't find any reason to object to this plan. Hopefully, he would be a good tennis player because she only accepted the best from everyone. Lily was jolted from her thoughts as a hand reached out in front of hers. She quickly shook the hand belonging to Mrs. Burr.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Lily," said Mrs. Burr. "Your mother has told me so much about you and I look forward to you and Adam playing together this summer. He was so afraid he wouldn't find any people his own age to play tennis with, but it seems that he is in luck."
"Mother," Adam complained. "I can speak for myself. It is nice to meet you Lily. It seems as if our mothers have already planned our tennis schedules this summer so I look forward to playing with you. And don't worry, I've had a lot of experience on the court so I won't let you down if we play coed doubles."
Lily's sigh of relief was audible and she quickly scrambled to cover it up. "Well, I didn't doubt that you were an excellent player. Let's hope that I can keep up with you. After all, it's been nearly a year since I last played in a competition. I'm sure I'll be here quite a bit this summer so I look forward to playing with you."
Adam gave Lily a once over and smiled saying, "It looks like you already got a head start on practicing."
She had completely forgotten about her appearance while she was trying to figure out who the strangers were, but now she remembered rushing out after playing with Danny, complete with frazzled hair and sweaty clothes.
"Oh my," she started. "Yes, I played with Danny for a while and I lost track of time so I was rushing to get back here and meet my mother."
Lily's mother who had been in conversation with Mrs. Burr until now suddenly focused on Lily when she heard herself mentioned.
"Uh-oh Lily," she exclaimed. "We better head off because I'm already late to the dinner your father and I are supposed to be heading to tonight."
"Mrs. Evans," Adam said. "I could take Lily home if you wanted so you could go directly to your dinner."
At this Marie Evans smiled and graciously accepted his offer. Mrs. Burr gave Adam instructions to drive carefully and get Lily home safely. Throughout this all Lily was silent.
"My car is outside in the parking lot in front of the club," Adam informed Lily.
And with that they both started walking out the doors and across the parking lot. Finally, they reached a sleek, silver Audi TT (A/N I'm writing this story in a present setting). It was the cutest and coolest sports car that Lily had ever seen.
"Oh, I love your car, it's just so cute," she exclaimed.
Adam laughed. "Well, I guess I was going more for cool, but cute will have to do."
Lily laughed too, but blushed as well. She should have known better than to call a boy's car cute. As they both got settled in the car Adam flipped the radio on and suddenly the car was submerged in music.
"So how old are you?" Adam inquired.
"I'm 16," Lily replied. "And I go to a boarding school in Scotland."
"Why do you go to boarding school?" Adam asked casually.
"Well, it's a special school that…" Lily wasn't used to people asking questions beyond her initial statement. "it specializes in advanced academic studies," she finished lamely.
Even though Adam was focusing on the road she could see him raise his eyebrows then silently dismiss his questions. Lily figured she needed to turn the conversation around quickly.
"So how old are you?" she quickly asked.
"I'm 17 and I just graduated from school," he replied easily.
"Do you plan on going to college next year?" Lily inquired.
"Actually, I've been seriously thinking about taking a gap year and maybe interning at the UN because my dad has a friend who works there. I just don't think I'm ready for another four years of school so soon."
Lily was taken aback. As a star student her life focused around academics and school was what she did for fun. She was going to miss Hogwarts greatly when she graduated. The everyday challenges and homework assignments thrilled her.
Suddenly Adam glanced over at Lily and saw her surprised expressions. At this he let out a little laugh.
"Don't look so shocked," he said. "I do plan on going to college, but I'd like to have some life experience before I go back to school and decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. I mean these are the years where I should travel and have fun and experience everything right? When I get a job I'll be tied down for the rest of my life. So that's why I was hoping to only do the internship for half a year and for the rest backpack across Europe."
Lily's mind was racing. She had never met anyone like Adam. He had goals, but he had a spirit inside of him that was original and free. She had always wanted to go backpacking through Europe, but had never had the courage to bring it up with her parents. Of course she would strictly be doing it for educational purposes because the study of muggles, even though she came from muggles, was an important one. However, if she happened to have some fun along the way she wasn't going to object.
"Wow, I've always wanted to backpack through Europe too," Lily replied. "I don't think my parents would be too keen on the idea though. They're pretty protective and I don't think they'd feel safe with me off traipsing across Europe."
"My parents probably won't like the idea of me leaving either," Adam said "but it's something I have to do for myself. I've been to many places with my parents before, but I want to truly experience the world. Staying in five star hotels and dining in five star restaurants does not give you the slightest idea about a place's culture. I want to really get to know places. I want to know their people and their whole way of life."
Lily nodded her head vigorously. The words coming out of Adam's mouth could very well have been coming out of her own mouth. Finally, she had found someone who spoke her language. Although she could tell that she and Adam had many differences she knew that on things that mattered they were very similar.
Lily and Adam continued to talk on the way to Lily's house. Eventually, they arrived at the empty mansion. At the sight of the many dark windows Lily sighed.
"What's the matter?" Adam asked.
"Well," Lily replied hesitantly. "It's always scary coming home when my parents are gone. I know it's silly. We live in a gated community, but I've always been afraid of people being inside the house ever since we were robbed when I was younger."
"Would you like me to come in and stay with you until your parents come home or at least until you feel a little safer?" Adam offered.
"I don't want to impose on you," Lily said. "But if you have nothing else to do I would really appreciate that."
Feeling incredibly stupid, Lily led Adam into her house. Normally, she was a brave and courageous Gryffindor, but being alone in her house had always been scary, especially since the robbery. As they made their way to the kitchen Lily continued to silently yell at herself for being a silly girl. When they reached their destination Adam took a seat on a chair along the countertop. Lily proceeded to offer him food or a drink (nonalcoholic that is). He opted for a Pepsi as did Lily. For a while things were awkward, but eventually they became comfortable with each other and by the end of the night they were talking like old pals. Among their topics of conversation were tennis, politics (again), TV shows, the Royal family, and Coke vs. Pepsi.
Then suddenly Lily heard the front door of her house open and she knew their enjoyable night had come to an end. After setting a time to play tennis tomorrow, Lily and Adam parted with friendly smiles.
When Lily went to sleep that night she couldn't help, but think about what lay ahead of her this summer.
A/N- Okay, first off I want to apologize about the not accepting anonymous reviews problem. I didn't even know that my account wasn't accepting anonymous reviews. However, the problem has been fixed and now anybody is free to review. I want to thank kjchenx for being my first (and only) reviewer. The fact that you created an account just to review my story is so nice. Well I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. Stay tuned until next time because things might start to heat up between Lily and Adam. Plus Lily still has to make her visit to Maddi's house where a run in with the Marauders is guaranteed. Thanks and please review!!!!