Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah. I'm not making any money off of this, blah, blah, blah. I'm not associated with Jo Rowling, Scholastic, Arthur A. Levine Books, blah, blah, blah.

Blah.

Chapter Two- Yeah, Lil

"Life is nothing without friendship"
-Cicero

Susan ran over, once more, in her head, the names of Lily's friends, the people that were coming to stay with her and her family for the next two weeks. Not that she really cared who they were, herself, but she knew Lily would like it if she knew who they were, and Susan would do almost anything to get Lily's approval. Her cousin was the closest thing to a hero that Susan had. Lily was older, pretty, smart, and, to top it all off, a witch.

If that wasn't cool, Susan didn't know what was.

So, with all these marvelous things to her name, Lily had become Susan's role model, the person she looked up to. And Susan would do anything to make her proud, including learning all these ridiculous names before tomorrow morning. Susan looked at Lily's letter again.

Once more, Aunt Lucy, I can't thank you enough for letting my friends and me stay at your house this summer. I know it's a big responsibility, but I promise we won't be in your way too much. There will be eight or nine of us, including myself. The other kids are Melinda and Patricia Potter; they're twins, Karen Weasley, and Audrey Bolton. Also, when I invited Remus, I didn't want him to feel alone, so I also invited a few of his guy-friends; I hope you don't mind. James Potter, he's the cousin of Melinda and Patricia, along with his friend, Sirius Black, are coming too. Peter Pettigrew may be riding along as well, but that depends on if his sister has her baby before we leave. If not, he's staying in England so he can be there for that occasion.

xo-

Lily-flower

Susan blinked. Patricia, Karen, Peter, and James, she could remember. She bit her lip and looked back up at the letter.

"Melinda, Melinda, Melinda, I can remember that, Melinda, Melinda..." She repeated to herself.

Melinda and Patricia, Audrey, and Karen. Melinda and Patricia, Audrey, and Karen.

She moved on to the boys' names.

James and Peter, she could remember easily. Remus, she had known since she was very little; so the only one she had trouble with was Sirius.

S-i-r-i-u-s. I wonder how you say that. Is it like "serious", or is it like, "Sur-eye-us", she wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a car door banging shut. She looked over to the driveway and saw her sister, Lavinia, getting out of her truck, holding two very large bags of groceries. She looked at Susan and nodded towards the truck pointedly. Susan put the letter down and ran down to the truck, picked up a large bag of groceries, and took it inside. Her mother was already putting away the first bunch of groceries that Livi had brought in, and Susan asked, "Mom? Can I go with you to pick Lily up from the airport?"

Lucy smiled. "Sure, honey. Just remember, you'll have to wake up early. Their plane arrives at 6:30."

Susan grinned. Lily would be here in less than 24 hours!

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"Susan, get up." A gentle voice was saying, a hand on her shoulder.

"mmph." She groaned, and pulled the blankets up over her head.

"Susan, Lily's going to be here soon."

Susan pulled the blankets down from over her face, opened one eye, and looked at the clock. 5:00. The words rang in her head.

"Lily's going to be here soon."

Susan grinned and sat up in her bed. Her mother smiled. It worked every time.

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Like any excited ten year old would, Susan chattered relentlessly on the way to the airport.

"Do you think Lily will like my new kitten? I think Lily's eyes are pretty. Lily taught me how to cook noodles. Can I cook noodles for her tonight to show her how good I've gotten? What are her friends like? Are they all like Remus? I like Remus. But not as much as I like Lily. I want to see Hogwarts some day. Do you think Lily would be allowed to show me, even though I'm not a witch like her? Why don't Lily and Livi get along? Lily's fifteen now, you know. I wonder what I'll be like when I'm fifteen. Do you think I'll be like Lily?"

Lucy smiled as Susan rambled from the backseat. She knew that her daughter absolutely adored everything about her older cousin. And, she figured, since Lily was a good girl, there was nothing wrong with that.

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Lily put down her book. She just couldn't concentrate for some reason. She frowned. Perhaps it was the turbulent motion of the small plane they were on. Or, maybe it was due to her massive headache. She turned to the boy who was half-asleep beside her.

"Remus?"

"Yeah, Lil?"

"It's too bad that Peter couldn't come"

"Yeah, Lil."

"I mean, I think he really would enjoy this."

"Yeah, Lil"

"You know what I just thought of?"

"Yeah, Lil?"

"Well, we both know that Lavinia has a massive crush on you."

"Yeah, Lil."

"Won't it be interesting, now that your girlfriend's coming with you?"

He frowned, his eyes still closed.

"I didn't think of that"

"Of course you didn't," Lily responded matter-of-factly, "It's my job to think of things like that"

"You don't think that Livi will chase Karen out with a stick, do you?"

"A big stick. With spikes." Lily said matter-of-factly.

Remus groaned.

"Why me?"

Lily grinned mischievously. "Why, because, you're so bloody brilliant, Remmy. I mean, you're just the hottest thing since fire." She imitated in a flaky voice.

"Isn't he just?" James asked in falsetto, sticking his head over the shoulder of Lily's seat.

"James, stop flirting with my boyfriend!" Karen admonished from the other side of the small plane.

"Caught me in the act" He said dryly, and turned back to Melinda, who was sitting next to him.

"These people are positively dry. No fun at all." He complained, slumping back in his seat.

"Gryffindors" She explained, rolling her eyes.

James sighed. "Lindy, you're a Gryffindor"

"I know, isn't it terrible? And, my name's not Lindy, Linda, Mel, or Lynn. It's Melinda. Mel-in-da." She emphasized, picking at her fingernail.

"Exactly" James said, without missing a beat.

Halfway across the plane, Sirius was involved in a quiet conversation with Patricia.

"Ten galleons says they hook up before Christmas." Sirius whispered.

"That's the exact same thing you said in third year. I still say it'll take them well into sixth year. I mean, in order to get together with Lily, Remus would have to break up with Karen, and I don't see that happening for a while."

"I'll take those odds. Ten galleons. Christmas. Remus and Lily. You wait and see."

"Fine. Deal." Trisha nodded, shaking Sirius's hand.

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"And then I can show her my new sheets- the ones with the unicorns on them. Lily's seen unicorns before. Did you know that? I bet they're really pretty. Do you think they're shiny?"

Lucy smiled wistfully. "I bet they are a white so pure, it almost hurts your eyes to look at them. And their horns are the color of the stars, and swirled. Their manes and tails are fine, and silver, and they look like spun glass. And when you watch them move, it's like watching water flow, because they're so graceful. Their eyes are big, round, and black, and when they look at you, it's like they're staring into your soul. They make you feel so flawed, so imperfect, by comparison."

She glanced in the rear-view mirror at Susan, who was hanging on her every word.

"Of course, I suppose you'll just have to ask Lily." She said lightly, smiling softly and drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.

"It's been so long since I've seen her. I wonder if she got any taller. I did. Maybe I'll be just as tall as she is, now..."

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"Twenty minutes 'till landing" Lily said, checking her watch.

"So, these cousins of yours... are they hot?" Sirius asked innocently.

Lily stared at Sirius. "Well, one of them is busy getting ready to go back to college, so you'll probably never get to meet her, and the second one's ten. You're almost seventeen. So, unless you want to go to jail, no."

"Yeah, Sirius. Keep it in your pants." Melinda said, still picking at that nail.

An old lady sitting across from Lily and Remus looked scandalized. James snickered. Sirius looked unaffected.

"A University girl, you say?"

"Sirius!"

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Okay, I was going to wait for three reviews, but since I didn't get them (blush) I just decided to post ch.2 anyway.

Next Chapter: Susan is awed as the Hogwarts Gang wreaks havoc on Massachusetts. Lavinia acts strangely, and Lily learns more about her Aunt Lucy's past.