Chapter 41: Sun, Sea and Sand

They all blinked as the hot Mediterranean sun blinded their eyes momentarily. Mrs Potter laid down the dappled conch shell that had been their Portkey on the edge of the circular stone fountain that they had appeared next to. Squinting against the glare of the sun sparkling fiercely off the vast expanse of sea to their right, Lily stared around her in wonder.

A grand, white villa sat sedately upon a hill that rose above the glittering waters to the right. On the other side low misty hills loomed in the distance; the peaks just visible, dusted in a light covering of snow. The clear, cerulean sea was mirrored in the sky where not a wisp of cloud could be seen.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" James whispered in her ear, coming to stand behind her, hands resting lightly on her hips.

She nodded wordlessly, not wanting to break the perfect stillness of the moment.

Behind them Mr and Mrs Potter walked towards the beckoning shade of the villa, his arm round her shoulder as they went. Saffron and Sirius headed straight for the pool, laughing and pulling off clothing as they went to reveal their costumes underneath. It was somewhat of a tradition that every year they would race one another to see who would be the first to hit the water. The loser had to perform a forfeit. Of course James would normally have been included in this but was graciously exempt this year on account of Lily.

Besides, of late James had begun to notice that his best friend and his sister were more than able to occupy themselves. In fact, without realising it, it often seemed as if when they were together they were the only two people in the world. He smiled and looked down at the girl- woman- before him. Yes, he knew that feeling well.

A hot week filled with blazing sunshine, long, meandering walks and ill-advised boat trips soon flew past. The most the Potters saw of the four teenagers was a flash here and there as they ran, laughing through the house, most often wearing swimwear and dripping water all over the marble floor. Mrs Potter privately thought it was a wonder that there hadn't been any accidents.

But as bright and full as the days were, it was the evenings that Lily liked best. The four of them would gather up the pre-packed bags that stood waiting near the back door and would head down the winding sand path to the beach. It cut its path along the cliff face, descending in long straits and tight curls. They would travel one abreast; the bags slung over James and Sirius's shoulders; Lily and Saffron at the front, more nimble and surefooted than the boys. Each walked with one hand trailing the rough, jagged surface of the rock as they went.

Sometimes they would bring the small tent and pitch it in the shelter of the huge rocks that sheltered the little cove at the foot of the cliff face. Other times they would lie out under the stars, watching them wink in the inky darkness overhead. And when she felt the warmth of James lying next to her and heard the soft rasp of the sea on the shore Lily felt completely at peace. Content.

Every night she dreamt of white feathers and a strong wind whistling through the air, sweeping her up with it. A whispering sound, just out of earshot danced at the edge of her dreams. It sounded expectant.

Tonight was to be a full moon and they had planned to camp out once more. It was twilight as they bid goodbye to the two adults who sat together out on the white patio, sharing a bottle of wine and made their way to the opening to the cliff path.

Saffron walked in front, skin tanned from the daily sunshine. Her step was light and easy and she hummed to herself as she walked. James and Sirius walked side by side, talking and joking with one another as easily as breathing. And Lily in the middle of them all looked out towards the sea, her blood beginning to hum as a strong breeze began to blow. It came not from the sea, but from inland.

Lily was surprised when Saffron paused in front of her, just as she reached the gap in the hedge where the path started and cocked her head in the direction of the wind. Her long hair whipped out behind her and she stood perfectly still as if listening, her dark eyes glazed over and when she blinked the movement was slow and trancelike.

"Saffron?"

Lily frowned and shook her arm gently.

"Saffron?"

"Is something wrong?" James asked as he and Sirius stopped just behind them.

"I-"

Saffron blinked suddenly and shook her head, then glanced in surprise at the three faces looking at her with various degrees of anxiety. She laughed and with a cheeky smile she tweaked Lily's nose and darted off down the path dangerously fast.

"Careful!" James called after her, scrambling to follow after her, his feet slipping on the sand as he hurried down.

Lily bit her lip as she watched him.

"It's alright," Sirius said from where he stood next to her. His wand was drawn and bag slung over his back, the strap across his chest. "I'll catch him if he falls." He grinned and winked at her.

Lily couldn't help but grin at that. She had a much better resources than Sirius if it came to that.

Once James was safely down Sirius and Lily made their descent. They found James 'having words' with Saffron. He seemed annoyed about something, but Saffron being Saffron was gazing back placidly, toying with a shell she'd found.

Finally, tired of pretending to attend to her brother's lecture Saffron interrupted, "Look, James, I know you mean well, but sometimes you just have to let me be. You can't be there to protect me from everything you know. I have to make my own mistakes."

He frowned and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Lily placed a hand on his arm and he sighed, shaking his head.

"Whatever."

"Come on, Saff," Sirius said, dropping his bag on the sand and tugging at her arm, "let's go see if there are anymore shells in the trap."

Several days ago the two of them had dug a deep hole when the tide was out. The idea was that shells normally washed up and down by the tide would stay within the sandy pit. Saffron had developed a recent passion for shells. The sill in her room back at the villa was already crammed with shells of all colours and shapes. This 'trap' had actually been Sirius's idea. The two of them had stayed out there for the whole afternoon under the partial shade of an umbrella even after the tide started to come in and washed around their bare legs.

Accepting the distraction, Saffron headed off after Sirius leaving James and Lily to themselves.

"I know she's right," James said without preamble, a rueful expression on his face. "It's just…" he let out a sigh of frustration and sat down heavily.

"Just what?" Lily asked softly as she joined him, her arm sliding round to link with his.

"That's just it," he replied, picking up a worn stone with his free hand, "I don't know! I just have this…feeling." He broke of and looked at her embarrassedly, "Sounds stupid doesn't it?"

She shrugged slightly and leant against his shoulder, her body turned towards him, a slightly teasing smile on her face, "I don't know about stupid. But it doesn't sound much like James Potter- that much I'll admit."

His mouth twisted in a lopsided kind of smile, "Don't I know it! And normally I wouldn't think anything of it- everyone worries about things now and then, right? But sometimes I look at her and I feel…like something isn't right."

"What do you mean?"

He sent the pebble skimming over the surface of the sea, watching as it skipped three times and then sank, "It's like… if I don't watch her all the time then one day I'm going to turn around and she won't be there anymore."

Lily shivered, an uneasy shill running down her spine.

James turned to look at her, resting his forehead against hers, "I suppose I'm just beginning to realise that we're all growing up and this summer is probably the last time she and I will live together like this; that come the end of our seventh year we'll all go on to live our own lives." He closed his eyes and she wrapped her arms round his shoulders, "And I think that must be it- that I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill. But sometimes, sometimes I think that there's more to it."

Lily held him closely to her, his head tucked under her chin. The wind blew stronger about them and she closed her eyes tightly against the sand whipped up in the air. She didn't know what to say. How could she refute his words, offer meaningless comforts when what he had said had resonated to her very core.

And she couldn't think of a world without Saffron anymore than she could envisage one without James.

They looked up at sound of her laughter; she was running along the beach in front of them, feet treading at the edges of the waves, splashing about her. A small yellow bag was clutched in one hand- no doubt full of shells- that swung as she danced along, and what looked like a shoe in the other.

Sirius splashed along behind her, a single shoe in his hand, his other reaching out to grab her as she danced out of his reach once more,

"Give it back, you wretch!"

"Come along, puppy," she teased, dark eyes flashing with humour.

"I'll give you puppy!" he growled, lurching towards her and managing to grab the edge of her halter-neck.

She yelped and tried to twist away but tripped over his leg, bringing them both down with a very wet sounding splatter. But Saffron was soon up, scrambling just out of his reach in time to swipe his other shoe and flee in the direction of the others.

James grinned and got up, pulling Lily with him, "Don't those two ever get tired of fighting?"

Lily just grinned, she had her own suspicions that their games were just an excuse to touch one another. She wondered how long Saffron would run before she would allow herself to be caught.

Saffron caught hold of James's shoulder as she reached them, swinging behind him with a squeal. Regaining his balance James grinned at Sirius as he stopped in front of them, his clothes clung to him, hair hanging around his face, dripping onto the sand. Lily smiled in amusement, waiting to see what would happen next. She caught a glimpse of understanding that flickered between the boys and James's grin widened.

Turning, he caught Saffron with one hand and pushed her hard into Sirius's waiting arms. She yelped indignantly and struggled against his strong hold, glaring daggers at James.

He grinned back at her, sliding an arm round Lily as he said, "I thought you wanted me to let you make your own mistakes."

She made a face and then began to laugh.

Later, after the stars had begun to appear, the four sat round a crackling fire, quiet for once. Lily and the two boys were sat on a log toasting marshmallows on the end of specially spelled sticks. Saffron sat at Lily's feet, fiddling with something in her hands. It was quite cold and all four had blankets draped round them, Lily snuggled under the shelter of James arm as well as his blanket.

"There."

Saffron held up her finished piece in front of her appraisingly and crawled in front of the others.

"Mind the fire," James said absently.

"Yes, mother," she responded dryly.

Reaching Sirius she knelt up, "Here," she held out a length of what looked like a shoelace, weighed down in the centre with an oval shaped stone.

Sirius sat silently as she reached round his neck to tie the lace, uncomfortably aware of her breath on his neck and her body pressed up against the length of his arm. He cleared his throat and looked up to meet Lily's eyes who were regarding him with a great deal of humour. He was surprised at that. Evidently she was a lot more observant and not nearly so naïve as he had thought.

Saffron leant back and he lifted the stone to look at it. The stone was perfectly smooth and white. Quite ordinary in every way except that she had given it to him. His fist closed about it and he smiled, "Thank you."

Startled by the look in his eyes she shied away slightly, flushing slightly. Wetting her lips she nodded, glanced away and shivered.

"Cold?"

"A little," she replied, putting her back to the fire so as to face them but cautious not to meet Sirius's eye.

"Why don't you share Sirius's blanket?" Lily suggested innocently.

Saffron gave her a black look.

"Unless you're worried he has cooties."

"Cooties?" Sirius querried, "What the hell are cooties?"

Lily grinned, "You know, I have no idea."

James laughed, "Well it's nice to know you are human after all."

Lily rolled her eyes and poked experimentally at her marshmallow. Deciding it was cool enough she put it in her mouth.

"I'm almost positive I don't have cooties-whatever they are- so you're welcome to join me," Sirius said.

"Really I'm not-" a second shiver betrayed her lie before she had even finished saying it. Biting back all sorts of black words for Lily she dropped her blanket and scooted next to Sirius as he lifted a corner to let her in.

She shivered again for different reasons as Sirius draped the edge carefully around her, his bare arm brushing her exposed back. She felt him stiffen too at the contact, pulling his arm back down. Her fingers pulled the blanket around herself where it draped over her knees and tried to ignore all the places where her skin touched his.

Lily felt restless. It was a feeling that had come and gone all day, but now the sun had gone down and the wind blew stronger it had returned to tug at her, pulling her in all directions and none at all. She sighed, it was no use. No matter how much she wanted to remain curled up next to James she just couldn't sit still any longer.

He looked up questioningly as she rose.

"I'm going for a walk," she said, then hesitating only a moment added, "Want to come?

He nodded and rose, draping their warmed blanket over her shoulders and picking up the pile that had been Saffron's from the sand, reaching out for her hand as they set out together along the moonlit sand.

A/N: No idea how long it's been since my last update, but I just it's long enough for you guys, huh? Anyway, I have so much work at the moment you wouldn't believe it! I try not to think too much about myself it in the interests of maintaining my sanity. This month's been mad hectic, I got baptised and had my 21st birthday in the space of about a fortnight, so leave me a nice review as a present! Heh…

Hope you like the latest chapter! Was looking back on some of the earlier chapters and I think my writing's gotten quite a bit better, don't you think? Practice makes…better wink. Anyway, the bit about cooties- I know they're lice, but cooties is not a word anyone in the UK uses to talk about them, just a brit thing I felt like adding.

Right, back to the grindstone, take care, guys!

xxx