A/N: I am SO sorry. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to get this chapter up. I'm sorry to say that my news isn't any better about the next chapter. I really want to make this story as good as possible, and I'm sorry to say that takes time. I'm really trying to get this done, but I have a lot of things to do right now. Including study for my math final, that's next week!

Chapter 15:

"BOY!"

Sirius jumped as he heard the angry call of a woman from behind him. Sirius settled down quickly after realizing that it was only his mum.

"Yes mum?" Sirius asked joyfully. He wasn't going to let her get to him, not this summer.

"Don't use a tone with me boy!" Analisa Black snarled, "Get your filthy little ass in the car." When Sirius lazily bent down to pick up his trunk, she hurried him by shouting "NOW!" in her booming voice. One thing was for sure, Sirius definitely got his loud voice from her.

When he got into the car, Analisa sped out of the train station before Sirius had closed the door. His mum chose to ignore him the whole way home, and Sirius had to admit that it wasn't that bad. If his mum though she was punishing him, she wasn't. In fact, Sirius was happy about the silence, it gave him time to think.

'She'll probably punish me more harshly when I get home, when my dad's there to help her out.' Sirius though glumly. This was going to be an interesting summer, he thought.

Lily gave Emmie and Remus each one final hug before leaving the platform and going out in front of the station where she was going to meet her parents. After leaving the station, they would head directly for the airport in London. Under normal circumstances, Lily would've been excited that she was going to Germany, but this was a family vacation, and that meant she had to spend time with her sister.

"I'll miss you guys so much over the summer!" Lily whined, after hugging her friends for what felt like the one hundredth time.

"Yeah, I'll miss you too." Remus said, "But that's my mum and I gotta go." He then turned and walked in the direction of a thin woman with sandy blond hair.

"You should come over this summer." Lily suggested.

"Yeah," Emmie agreed, "my grandparents may not let me though—they're kind of strict."

"Oh," Lily sympathized, "I'm sorry."

"That's fine—it's not your fault. I just wish my parents wouldn't have died." Emmie said sadly.

Lily sighed, it seemed that every time she had a conversation with Emmie, the death of Emmie's parents was somehow brought up.

"I'm sorry," Lily managed to say, "but, I'll tell you what, my parents will write to your grandparents, I'm sure that they can work something out. My family loved having you over during Christmas break—well, err, my parents did anyway." Lily said honestly.

"You know, I don't need you to pity me like this." Emmie sobbed angrily.

"I don't pity you!" Lily retorted. "Wherever did you get that idea? I just don't fancy spending my entire summer with my sister!"

Emmie managed to laugh, "Yeah, I don't suppose I would either, no offense or anything."

"None taken. Don't think I don't know how bad she is—I've lived with her for eleven years!" Lily exclaimed.

Emmie and Lily laughed again, when Emmie saw her grandparents, she left Lily and waved goodbye. The sun was setting and Lily decided that it was time to meet her parents and leave for her dreaded vacation.

James got home, put his trunk on his bead and turned to face an eagle owl that he'd never seen before. It was staring at him with a look of dignity on his face, and it impatiently put it's leg out, waiting for James to untie the letter. It was from Sirius:

Hey James,

I was wondering if I could come over to your place for in a couple of days. I don't think my parents will mind—they haven't stopped me from doing anything I want this summer. They've just been ignoring me—personally, I like this form of punishment a lot better than any other one they've tried. This way, I can do whatever I want and they're not putting any restrictions down and getting in my way! So, please get back to me soon. I'm dying over here, my house is BORING!

Thanks!

-Sirius

James laughed, it was just like Sirius to invite himself over to somebody else's house. Oh well, he didn't mind—he wanted to see his best friend.

"Hey mom!" he called, "Can Sirius come over in a couple of days?"

"Ermm…if it's alright with its parents, honey!" his mom called back.

"Yeah, it's fine." James lied.

"Alright then!" his mother agreed.

James quickly wrote back to Sirius:

Sirius-

My mom said that it's fine. Come over as soon as you can, and think of ways to prank my brother on your way! How are you gonna get here? Would your parents drive you? My family's hooked up to the Floo Network, so feel free to floo over here. Our address is No. 10 Godric's Hollow! See ya soon,

James

'This summer is gonna be great!' James thought. 'With Quidditch games every other week and Sirius coming over!'

He then grabbed his broom and went to see if his brother could keep for him. "Hey Alan!" he called.

"What?" Alan called back.

"Can you play keeper for me? I wanna practice for next year!"

"Only if you promise to go easy!"

"What's the point of me practicing then?"

"Don't ask me!" Alan said stubbornly.

"Fine, fine, I'll go easy." James gave in. "But not too easy." He added.

The next day at dinner, the Potter's heard the doorbell ring from their dining room table.

"James, dear, will you get that?" Elizabeth Potter asked.

"But mum, I'm hungry!" James whined.

"Please James." His mum insisted.

"Alright," James said exasperatedly. He got up and went to the door to see Sirius standing there. His robes were ripped and torn, his hair was messed up, and patches of dirt were on his face—he looked like he'd spent a week in the jungle with nothing but the clothes on his back. He was carrying both his broomstick and his trunk.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked.

"Ermm…I just flew here." Sirius said.

"Did you crash?" James continued.

"Err...yeah, a couple times." Sirius said and James raised his eyebrows. "No! I'm a good flyer. Really I am, it's just hard to fly when your trunk keeps sliding around and shifting the direction that your broomsticks flying."

"What did you bring your trunk for? Planning on staying the summer?" James joked.

"Well…err…if that was okay." Sirius said uncomfortably. "As I said before, my house was hell a boring!" he added quickly.

"No! That's fine—it'd be so cool if you stayed all summer!" James said quickly, "I just didn't think you would want to—hoped you would, but didn't think so!"

"So what do you wanna do?" Sirius asked.

"Do you wanna play Quidditch? My brother bloody stinks at the game—it'd be good to have somebody else keep for me!" James suggested.

"Sure!" Sirius said excitedly.

Sirius and James went up to James' room to get his broomstick. James had forgotten all about dinner—and Sirius' trunk that was sitting by the front door. Before going outside he called "Mum, we're going outside!" quickly before racing Sirius to the pitch.

The summer was nearing an end and Lily was packing her trunk, preparing to return back to school. She absent-mindedly reached over to grab her transfiguration book when she accidentally hit something else. She turned around to see Emmie's eagle owl, Watcher, ruffling his feather indignantly. She took the letter from Watcher, gave him a couple of owl treats and began reading her note.

Dear Lily,

I'm glad that we were able to keep in touch this summer! Staying with my grandparents has been surprisingly interesting. They're not as boring as the seemed when I used to visit them when I was little. Yesterday, for example, we went to see a Wasps game. It was they're last game of the season, since they won't be making it into the finals. It's obvious that the Leprechauns and the Cannons will be going to the cup this year. Anyways, you probably haven't a clue about what I'm talking about.

The real reason I was writing was to tell you that my grandparents and I are going into Diagon Alley to get my school supplies on Friday. It would be great if you could come along with us. That is, if hadn't already gotten yours yet. Post me back as soon as you ask your parents! I can't wait to see you—whether it's at Diagon Alley or on the train!

Lots of love,

Emmie

'This is perfect!' Lily though, she had already been planning on going to Diagon Alley on Friday. This way, she could meet Emmie there and maybe ask her to spend the rest of break with her.

"Hey Petunia!" she said cheerfully to her sister as she walked downstairs to find her parents.

"What do you want?" Petunia asked in the same tone she had used with Lily the entire summer.

"Where's mum and dad." Lily asked, in a less happy way.

"Hell if I know," Petunia shrugged.

"You know, you don't have to be so grouchy." Lily suggested.

"And you don't have to be weird." Petunia retorted, lamely.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go find mum and dad now." Lily said, turning and walking away. As she turned around she saw her dad standing there. "Oh! Hi dad! I was wondering, you know how we were planning to go to Diagon Alley on Friday? Well, Emmie's going to be there on Friday too and we planned to meet up there. After that, could she spend the rest of the holiday with us, until term starts?"

"Can I move in with Mally?" Petunia asked nastily.

Daniel Evans decided to ignore Petunia's question and just answer Lily's. "Erm…sure honey. As long as it's okay with her grandparents."

"Yes daddy, I'm sure it'll be fine! Thank you!" she gave her dad a quick hug and ran upstairs to her room to write to Emmie.

Dear Emmie,

That's perfect! I was planning to go to Diagon Alley on Friday too! It'll be great to see you again. It seems like forever since I've seen you or Remus. Have you been keeping touch with him throughout the summer? I've sent him numerous letters but he's only replied twice. Oh well, he's probably pretty busy. Maybe he's vacationing or something.

I was also wondering if you might want to stay over at my house until term starts. I mean it's probably not as nice as your grandparents house, it does belong to muggles after all.

Yours,

Lily Anne Potter

Summer was nearing to an end and Lily of happily anticipating her return to school. However, she was going to enjoy her final week of vacation as best she could, especially since Emmie was coming over. She had recently written back. Even though a muggle house wasn't nearly as exciting as a wizarding one, she still couldn't wait to have Emmie over.

She also couldn't wait to go to Diagon Alley. She had been away from the Wizarding World for so long, she had almost forgotten what it was like to be a part of it. She loved spending time with her parents, but she just missed the world that she had felt so much more a part of than she had ever in the world that she had grown up in.

Petunia, thank God, was going to her friend's house while Lily and her parents went into London—she didn't want anything to do with the wizarding world, and, quite frankly, Lily was quite happy about this. Petunia had been a real pain all summer—it seemed like she had turned all of Lily's old friends against her. She had apparently told them that Lily was off at a boarding school for mentally disabled girls. Now, they all looked at her like she was some sort of freak.

"Lily dear!" came the call of her mother from downstairs. From the rattling of pots and pans, she guessed her mum was in the kitchen.

"Yeah Mum?" Lily answered. Knowing what her mum was going to say, she began getting ready to leave for Diagon Alley.

"We need to leave in five minutes!" her mum called back.

"Okay!" Lily shouted, racing to the mirror to pull her hair back into a ponytail.

After deeming herself perfect, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. She paced over to the refrigerator and pulled her school supplies list down from it. She looked over one more time she to make sure she had it memorized. She would also stock up on owl food and potion ingredients.

All Second Year Students are required to have:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2

by Miranda Goshawk

A Students Guide to Defense

by Lavonia von Dixon

Once she thought she had it, she put the list in her pocket and went to her car to wait for her mum there. The ride to London was fairly long and Lily got bored easily. For her entertainment, her mother brought her To Kill a Mockingbird. It was a novel by an American author, Harper Lee. It was set in the 1930's, during the American Depression. It was one of Lily's favorite stories—she never tired of reading it.

After what seemed like ages, they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Her mother had never been to Diagon Alley before and didn't know how to get in. In fact, the only witch or wizard she'd met besides Lily was Hagrid, and he wasn't technically a wizard. Lily walked through the Leaky Cauldron quickly. It was quarter after eleven and she was supposed to have met Emmie fifteen minutes ago. She went outside and her mom came out the door, practically running after her.

Once in Diagon Alley, she ran down the streets, past chattering students, to Flourish and Blots. She saw Emmie standing outside with an elderly couple that she supposed were Emmie's grandparents.

"Emmie!" she shouted, racing across the street to get to her friend.

"Lily!" Emmie called back, just as much excitement in her voice.

Emmie was the first of the two to speak after they had finish hugging. "How was your summer? I missed you so much!"

"It was alright." Lily said. "Petunia was being more a freak than usual, but it was good to see my parents again. What about you?"

"It was alright. Sort of depressing, you know." Emmie said shrugging. She was never one to take things too heavily. In fact, Lily had been surprised in how well she had coped with her parents' death.

"Yeah…" Lily began, but she stopped when she looked over Emmie's shoulders and saw two boys walking around, laughing—two boys who she really didn't want to see.

"JAMES! SIRIUS!" Elizabeth Potter screamed, getting frustrated with the boys who were seemingly impossible to arouse. "YOU NEED TO WAKE UP NOW!"

Yet again, the boys didn't stir. Finally reaching a boiling point, Elizabeth Potter aimed her wand right at her sons face and shot a squirt of water. James face immediately tightened, his hands then came up and found his face and he wiped the water off of it. Once he had gotten over the initial shock and opened his eyes, James spoke to his mother.

"Bloody hell, mum," he said, irritated, "what was that for?"

"We need to go into town to get your school supplies today. If you two kept sleeping the way you were, we wouldn't be able to get there until lunch. By that time the whole place is swarming with shoppers. As it is, it's nine thirty."

"Can I please have ten more minutes?"

"No, I need you to go into the bathroom, wash your face and then go downstairs and get breakfast started for you and Sirius."

"Fine," James said, giving in, "but just warning you, you're gonna need a lot more water to wake him up." He said, gesturing in Sirius' direction.

A good half an hour later, James, Sirius and Mrs. Potter were heading toward the fireplace, Mrs. Potter carrying a small bowl of Floo Powder. Sirius went first—he pinched his fingers around some powder, stepped into the fireplace and said "Knockturn Alley" in a clear voice. James rushed in after him, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, and jumping into the fireplace. Before his mum could stop him, he threw the Floo Powder down on the ground and shouted "Knockturn Alley!" at the top of his lungs.

Once the familiar rushing sensation had gone away, James climbed out of the fireplace and looked up at Sirius.

"Hey. Whatcha looking at?" he asked Sirius.

"Just this hand thing, if you touch it, it'll glow. Try it." Sirius said, stepping back and gesturing for James to try out the hand light.

James then reached out to touch the hand. When he was about four inches away, the hand clamped down over his hand. Sirius burst out laughing as James struggled to free his hand from the hand's clasp.

When Sirius finally gained control of himself, he managed to say, "You'll have to have better reflexes than that if you wanna try out for the Quidditch team.

James was about to answer, but at the very moment he opened his mouth, a man came out from the back room. James ducked so quickly that he pulled his hand out from the hand's grab. "Ow!" he moaned, "God damn it!"

Sirius just turned and looked at the man. The man stood at the counter, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Oh my God! This is Knockturn Alley?" Sirius asked.

James just shrugged and said "I guess so."

"I've been here loads of times with my mum. She buys dark wizard things here—I didn't know it was Knockturn Alley though. I always though that Knockturn Alley would be a lot better than this. That's a major let down!" Sirius explained.

"So is this what the whole town's like?" James asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sirius said, "Or at least what I've seen of it."

After what seemed like ages, Mr. Brocklehurst finally disappeared behind the double doors and into the back room. Not willing to wait any longer, James and Sirius sprinted out of the door and into the rest of Knockturn Alley.

"Any idea how to get out of here?" James shouted at Sirius.

"Ermm…yeah, follow me." Sirius wasn't exactly sure how to get to Diagon Alley from there, but he had an idea.

After running for a quarter mile, Sirius looked behind James to ask how he was doing. Before James could warn him, Sirius ran straight into Dung. It was a complete mess—cauldrons flying everywhere.

"Hey!" Dung croaked, "You kids watch where you're going!"

"Sorry Dung," Sirius said, picking up some cauldrons and handing them to him.

"How do you know my name?" Dung asked in his croaky, drunken sounding voice.

"Ermm…my mom." Sirius said. If Dung really was drunk, he wouldn't really be listening.

"Listen…err…Dung. We were wondering if you could take us to Diagon Alley." James asked, seeing if he could put running into Dung to use.

"I've got some business to attend to."

"Could you show us the way, then?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Yeah, go 15 block that way," Dung pointed in the opposite direction "and then turn right. Walk 4 more blocks and then turn right again. Keep on going and then you'll get to Diagon Alley." Dung explained.

James turned and gaped at Sirius. Sirius, taking his cue, ran as fast as he could along the path that Dung had dictated. He was laughing, he couldn't help himself. It was sort of funny when James got all pissed off. About half way through the trip, James started laughing too. He had to admit, it was sort of funny. Also, it wasn't Sirius' fault he didn't know his way around a dark wizard town.

About 7 blocks after the last turn, the boys saw a sign indicating that they were entering Diagon Alley. The ran passed Gringots and to the entrance of Flourish and Blots. James turned to see to girls that he recognized from Hogwarts.

"So Evans," he said casually, "missed me much over the summer?"

"No." Lily retorted, she wasn't going to take any of his beef this year.

"Pity, I missed you. But I had plenty of time to dream up ideas for this year." James said.

"Don't even think of cursing me Potter." Lily said, taking her wand out of her robes.

"Oh bring it on." James said competitively, taking his wand out of his robes.

"I'm his second!" Sirius said eagerly.

"I'm hers." Emmie said loyally.

"Blah! I don't need a second! But I'd get ready if I were you, Vance." James told Emmie.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that Potter. Lily's a damn good dueler." Emmie said defiantly.

Lily felt very confused, but her face remained set. The only thing she knew right now was that she wanted to split James into a thousand pieces.

"No one can beat James." Sirius argued.

"Do I sense some inter-house dueling going on hear?" came the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy. "Oh. You're fighting a mudblood." He said, looking at Lily, "By all means, finish her off Potter."

"Don't call her a you-know what!" Emmie shouted.

Sirius and James jumped on top of Malfoy and started tackling him to the ground. James was sitting on top of him, pointing his wand between Malfoy's eyes. "Don't…use…that…word…" he said, slightly out of breath.

"What's so wrong with the word 'mudblood'?" Lily asked, confused.

"Shhhhh!" James and Sirius said at the same time.

"It's a rude name for a witch or wizard who's parents don't have magic blood. Some wizards or witches, like the Malfoys or the Blacks, pride themselves in being what they call 'Pureblood'. That means that they come from purely magic families. It's sort of gross though, because all pureblood families are related somehow. I mean would you rather marry your cousin or a muggle?" Emmie explained.

"Oh…" Lily said. This was probably one of those things that she would never fully understand since she was a 'mudblood' like Malfoy had said. Sort of like the prejudice of werewolves.

When Lily turned around again, James and Sirius were gone but Malfoy was still there in a full body bind. 'Why did they help me?' Lily wondered, 'A few seconds ago, James was ready to kill me. Why did he all of a sudden stand up for me when Malfoy merely called me a name? It's probably because he's an immature freak who would hurt somebody for any reason. At least if he hurt Malfoy, he would have a reason and could most likely avoid getting in trouble.' But as she saw a woman yelling at James and Sirius in the distance, she doubted that they had.