Authors Note: Hey all, not really much to say. I've decided to give youa chapter a week with maybe a little something extra as a holiday treat when the time gets closer...we'll see. Haha, keep reviewing everyone! You know I love you all, you keep me writing. If it weren't forour lovely supportive reviews I think I would just give up writing alltogether and drop the entire thing. I know I wouldn't waste my time posting if it weren't for you. And johnothan the last chapter wasn't co-writen, I mentioned a chapter that was cowritten by me and vivi in the past book, in Tales of a Broken Heart, because that was the chapter she had gotten the owl and I had forgotten about it because V is the one who wrote that. Dur. And also, she didn't mention Sirius because in her heart of hearts she wanted to go..also dur. Oh and ps, the thing about the pancakes was just me being weird. James wanted to save her feelings because she felt all guilty and he didnt want her to feel any more guilty. Oh and this last one was my mistake. I guess part of the story got cut out because Dumbledore was supposed to say "Things at Hogwarts right now They will be worked out ofver the summer, but right now not even Hogwarts is safe for you." I was elluding to something that youll find out about soon enough. So happy reading.

Chapter 4

Meet the Potters

Lily was putting the last of her things in her trunk. She had no owl cage, that was why she had had to leave Rupert, her owl, at Hogwarts for the summer. That and the fact that her mother hated birds. She tore the calendar that she had made off the wall.

"What's this?" Said James grabbing it and noticing the heart on the date of his birthday.

"What's what?" Asked Lily, making a grab for it.

"Why is my birthday marked with a little heart?" James asked slyly.

"When's your birthday?" Lily asked, playing dumb.

"The 11 of July." He told her, still holding the calendar out of her reach.

"Is that a Friday?" Lily asked.

"No, Saturday." James replied, looking at her curiously.

"Oh, that was just a reminder of something." Lily told him, thinking fast.

"Of my birthday?" James asked.

"No, of a date I had." Lily told him, smiling a little. She hoped he would not pay much attention to the sudden rosy ness of her cheeks. She could feel her temperature rising.

"A date?" James repeated skeptically.

"And? What of it?" Lily demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Who was it with?" James asked, trying to beat her at her own game.

"You remember that guy I told you about? Derek? The one who lives down the street?" Lily asked, refreshing his memory.

"The one your mother tried to set you up with? Who didn't ask if you wanted meat?" James asked, knowing full well who she was talking about. He remembered how she had described that dinner in her letter.

"That's him. Well, he seemed nice, so I decided to give him another chance." Lily said, lying through her teeth.

"Oh?" James asked, smirking slightly. Could she be lying? he asked himself. Maybe he answered.

"Yeah, I decided to give him another chance. You know, away from my parents, less pressure, just us. He's a actually really nice." Lily said, toying with him. She loved the way he turned slightly redder with every word she spoke.

"Oh?" James asked. "And?" He prodded when she did not embellish.

"And nothing, he was nice. He wasn't for me though. I told him I didn't want to see him again. Although not those exact words. I told him I would be busy this summer. I think he got it." Lily told him. His muscles seemed to unclench, or was it just her imagination? He seemed more relaxed.

He lives just down the street eh? Maybe I could go teach him a lesson...He'll never go near Lily again after I'm through with him....James thought, his hands balled themselves into fists. But there was nothing in it. She didn't like him, she'd said so herself. He had to remember to keep his temper in check, otherwise Lily would never give him the time of day. She had very high standards, he was still trying to prove to her that he was a good person and not a hot headed quiddich playing idiot with his head up his ass.

"Give me a hand with this?" Lily asked, closing the lid of her trunk and lifting it ever so slightly off the ground.

"Here, I can get it." James offered. She let go before he had gotten a good grip and it fell on her toe. She shrieked a little, and James quickly lifted the trunk up so she could get her toe out. "All right?" James asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just a little surprised was all." Lily said, shrugging. James smiled a little and lifted the trunk off the ground. It was heavy, but he did not seem to notice or care.

Lily remembered when she and her father had struggled to lift it up the stairs. She turned and left the room, flying down the stairs. She did not want James to see her crying. He would think she was weak. Lily did not like being a damsel in distress. She was the strong one. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve so that he would not know she had succumbed to her fear and cried.

"So how are we getting there, floo?" James suggested.

"No, we can't. We're not hooked up yet." Lily reminded him.

"Lily, if you wanted to, you could've said something. I mean, after all these-"

"Not like that!" Lily said, catching his meaning. "My house isn't hooked up to the floo network yet. Remember? Not to mention we don't have any floo powder." Lily informed him.

"Oh. Right. That's so weird." James mumbled, he was blushing faintly, Lily noticed.

"What's weird?" Lily asked, curious.

"That you're a muggle family." James said.

"Why is that weird? Don't tell me that you're a muggle hater too!" Lily sighed, looking down at her hands.

"No way! I love muggles" James told her. Is he hinting at something? Lily asked herself. No, of course he isn't she answered herself. She was just imagining things. To her horror, this answer dismayed her somewhat. "It's just weird cause you seem so...witchy. And...non-muggley." James said, lamely.

"I suppose I'll just take that as a compliment and move right along." Lily laughed.

"So are we going to take one of those things? You know? The ones that have people in front and they take you wherever you want?" James suggested.

"I suppose we'll have to, won't we. There's no other way we can go. Only taxis." Lily said, knowing it would take a while. She was, for once, grateful that she did not have her owl with her.

"A what?" James asked.

"Huh? Oh! A taxi. You know, a thingy." Lily said, laughing again. "You really should have taken muggle studies James. It can come in really handy to know what you're talking about if you ever get a job when you need to work with muggles. Or even know simple things about muggles. If you're going to work at the ministry, then it'll be really important-" Lily stopped talking, seeing James's eyes glazing over. "Well anyway, I can't think of any other way that we would-"

"What about the Knight Bus?" James suggested.

"The what?" Lily asked.

"The Knight Bus." James repeated. "Don't tell me you've never been on the Knight Bus! That's it, we're taking it." He told her.

"Okay, how do you get it?" She asked. "Is there a bus stop or something?"

"No, you just stick out your wand arm like-"

"Wait!" Lily said. "Shouldn't we go outside?" Lily suggested.

"Good plan." James agreed, starting for the door.

"Wait, let me write a note to my mom." Lily said.

Mom-

I'm so sorry, but Professor Dumbledore, my headmaster, doesn't think that I'm safe here. We'll try and find daddy as soon as we can, but for now I'm staying with James. I'll write as soon as I can, and I'll see you Christmas break. Thank you for letting James stay here, I love you,

Lily

Lily scrawled her name quickly, a placed her quill back into her trunk. She noticed James's eyes straying to her calendar, and she smiled to herself.

As she watched James lift her trunk again her eyes welled for the second time. The fact that he could lift it only reminded her that her father was older and weaker and probably wouldn't be able to stand up to the tortures that Voldemort would most likely be subjecting him to.

James had carried her trunk outside, and she could see him silhouetted in the door frame, waiting for her to come outside. She wiped her eyes and swallowed hard on the lump that was constricting her throat. She opened the door and walked over to James slowly, trying her best to wipe away the tears that threatened to spill over onto her cheeks.

"Ready?" Inquired James.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Replied Lily, as cheerily as possible.

"Aren't you in for a thrill." Said James excitedly, thrusting his right hand forward.

Almost instantly a purple bus appeared on Privet Drive. Lily looked around cautiously to see if anyone had heard the bang and popping noise that accompanied its arrival. Apparently they had not. She stepped cautiously onto the first step of the bus after James had entered and motioned for her to follow. There was a large armchair with a conductor in it at the front.

"Oh no, you're all paid for. I would have put it on the house, or bus as the case may be, being that you're so pretty, but this gentlemen has already paid for you. What am I saying, gentleman? James, you old scoundrel." Said the conductor playfully, taking a swing at James, which he dodged nimbly. Lily had been reaching for her money purse when the conductor informed her that she was taken care of with a large wink.

Lily looked disapprovingly at James, but he only winked at her as well. Apparently he and this conductor were good friends. Lily deduced that James took this Knight Bus often. She couldn't help but wonder why he would need late night transportation that his parents couldn't provide. Where would he be going? There was a good deal she didn't know about James Potter, and she had thought she'd had him all figured out too.

For the first time, Lily looked around. The Knight Bus had a purple interior, and the walls were lined with beds. It the back, however. there were armchairs.

"Trust me Lil, you won't want one of those. Come here." Said James, directing her towards one of the beds.

"You shouldn't have paid for me, James." Lily said warily.

"I would pay anything to get you in a bed, Lily." James said roguishly. Lily elbowed him hard in the ribs, as he still had his arm around her. "You okay Lil, you look sad. Were you crying? I swear I was only joking about the paying to get you in bed thing. That was just a joke, I swear. And you can pay me back for the ticket if it really means that much to you." He said hurriedly.

"It's not that. It's nothing, I'm fine. But now you're saying you don't want me in bed? Are you saying I'm fat?" She said, in mock seriousness.

"No, Lily, I would never, I mean. No!" James said, flustered. Lily laughed at his confusion. James scowled at his humiliation. His friend the conductor was laughing at him too, he had apparently been eavesdropping on their conversation. "But, Lily, why were you crying?" James asked seriously.

"James, I hate to interrupt." Said the driver, "as I'm sure this conversation will turn out very interesting and all, but where are we going?" Asked the driver impatiently.

"Oh, sorry. My place." James said.

"Coming right up." Said the conductor.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Moaned Lily after the first lurch almost threw her from the bed. She was glad James had warned her about not sitting in the chairs, otherwise she would have gone flying. And not the kind of flying she was comfortable with. Not that she was all that comfortable with any flying, really.

"Great, the first time I get in a bed with you and you get sick." James complained.

"Okay, please tell me that will be your last bed joke." Lily groaned as they swerved. She was grateful for James's protective arm preventing her from getting thrown to the floor after every turn. She would have been seriously bruised.

"Okay, that was the last bed joke." James agreed. "But on one condition." He added as an after thought.

"Anything to make the bed comments stop." Lily agreed.

"Tell me why you were crying." James prompted.

"It's nothing. Really. It's stupid. You'll just think I'm dumb." Lily said, looking away. They had stopped, at last. A witch came down from the top deck of the triple decker Knight Bus, looking as woozy as Lily felt.

The bus lurched off again, causing Lily to smash into James with full force, knocking the wind out of them both. James's breath came back first.

"I would never find you dumb, just tell me." He pleaded.

"No." Lily said gasping for breath. The bus swerved again, and James ended up on top of Lily. He pinned her down and would not let her up when she tried to sit again. "James, stop being ridiculous, let me up." Lily said, pushing against his arm. It was no use, he was much stronger than her.

"You're the one being silly, just tell me! How foolish could it possibly be?" He asked. "Unless it's something embarrassing. Is it about your true feelings about being in bed with me Lily?" James asked poking her in the side with his free arm. She laughed, as she was extremely ticklish.

"James, stop, you said no more bed comments." Lily whined.

"Yes, under the condition that you told me why you were crying." James agreed.

"What makes you think I was crying?" Lily said evasively.

"I wonder if it could have been your red eyes or the tear marks on your cheeks?" James suggested. Lily sighed, knowing he had won.

"Okay, you know how you lifted my trunk?" Lily said.

"You're crying because I carried your trunk?" He asked in disbelief. "Okay, that is pretty dumb."

"No, it's because when I came back from school my dad and I were lifting it together and it was still heavy." Lily continued.

"So you were upset because I am so manly and muscular and you were fighting your true feelings for me all these years?" He suggested, moving back and allowing her to sit up.

"Dream on." Lily told him. "No. It just made me think that my dad isn't so strong. And that means that when Voldemort and the Death Eaters torture him, he won't be able to handle it." Lily said, her breath coming in small little puffs and she choked on her tears. It was lucky she was out of breath, as she noticed that the conductor was struggling to hear what she was saying.

"Oh Lily." James said simply. He put his arm around her again as the bus spun, and she burst into tears again, this time not bothering to fight them.

"James, you're next!" Yelled the conductor as they took off again.

"We can talk about this later, okay Lily? We're almost home." James told her soothingly.

"I can't let your parents see me like this!" Lily shrieked, wiping her eyes on his sleeve. "Can you tell I've been crying?" Lily asked.

"Yes. Don't worry about it, just be your usual charming self and they'll love you. Except don't be too much like your usual self, because then you'll bite their heads off and reject them every chance you get." James added after thinking about it.

"Oh, do shut up." Lily said with a sigh, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"And don't say that either." James told her.

"You're not helping James. Don't make me nervous." Lily warned him. "Otherwise they'll kick me out on the street and I'll be homeless and friendless and Voldemort will hunt me down and kill me."

"Don't be so morbid." Said James, shivering. The bus came to a stop and the doors opened. James went to the back of the bus and got Lily's trunk from where it had slid during the ride.

James went out first, and Lily followed. No sooner had they stepped off the last step than the bus disappeared with a last call of 'Bye James, see you soon!' from the conductor.

"James!" Shrieked a woman, running outside. Lily looked up at a giant white house. There were balconies and porches, verandahs and pillars, there was a lovely garden and an archway covered in flowers. Lily couldn't believe her eyes. She felt as if she had been transported to fairy land.

Lily looked back to the front lawn, where a youngish woman who looked to be in her mid to late thirties was standing. She was wearing an apron and dusting her flour covered hands on it. She wore a pretty little red dress underneath that did not seem at all the type of thing Lily would have chosen to cook in, but all the same, she was wearing it. She had blonde hair and deep brown eyes the same shape as James's. She flew at James and hugged him tightly. She was a good head and shoulders shorter than her son, and crying into his shoulder of joy at seeing him alive and well.

She pulled back after a few minutes and slapped him across the face. James looked somewhat stunned.

"How dare you do that to me? You just disappeared! With no note! You didn't even tell Sirius where you went! How could you do that to me? Do you know how worried I've been? Your father too! He didn't go to work today because of it. He's been so scared you were dead. And you should have seen Sirius! Wandering and moping around like a ghost! Don't you dare do that to me again James Potter, do you hear me?" She yelled, shaking him slightly at the end of her tirade for emphasis. "Are you satisfied? You got the attention now! I hope you're happy, because you've had us all worried sick! Where the hell were you that you couldn't have even owled us? Was that so difficult, just a simple note telling us that you were alive?" She asked, in tears again.

"Mum, please don't cry!" Said a miserable James. "I'm really sorry, honestly I am. Please don't cry!" James begged.

"James why didn't you send an owl? I told you to send an owl." Lily asked him, disappointment in her voice.

"Not you too!" James said, throwing his hands in the air. "Look I'm sorry, it must have slipped my mind what with all the other things going on!" James cried out, exasperated.

"James are you planning on introducing me to your friend?" Asked Mrs. Potter.

"Lily, this is my mother. Mom, this is my, Lily." James said, not sure of what to call her. My Lily. That has a nice ring to it James thought dreamily. Perhaps he could make it true one day. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Potter." Lily said politely, and somewhat awkwardly. That was not exactly the introduction she had anticipated.

"You can call me Anne dear. How nice to meet you. Are you a friend of James's from school?" She asked pleasantly, tears abandoned.

"Yes, we're in the same year and same house, so we're in most of the same classes." Lily told her.

"How nice. Is he much of a trouble maker? His teachers say he is. Unless he gets his act together I don't know how he plans on getting a job at the ministry. His father can only do so much." She sighed. "Well, come in both of you. James you had better go find your father. And Sirius. I expect you to apologize profusely to them both for this. You have no idea how upset Sirius was." James rolled his eyes at Lily, but went off to find Sirius all the same. "So, Lily dear, where are you from?" Anne asked as they walked into the house.

The front hall at least was immaculate. There was not a speck of dust in the white marble floors, nor was there a thread of the Persian carpet out of place on the massive spiral staircase. The house was totally elegant and beautiful.

"I'm from Little Winging, Surrey." Lily told her.

"I wish I knew where that was, but I don't. My sense of direction is sadly lacking. I don't even know where I am right now, except that I'm close enough to London to go in for a day of shopping." She said laughing. She had a sweet laugh. Very pure, it rang true like silver. Lily smiled, she liked Mrs. Potter, or Anne, already. "So darling, do you cook?" Asked Anne conversationally.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Lily told her cheerily, her tears forgotten.

"Really now? I was just having some of the house elves teach me. It's quite fun you know, just a flick of the wrist. Of course there is a technique." Anne explained enthusiastically. "I thought you said you cooked, dear?" Anne asked, looking at the puzzled expression on Lily's face.

"Well, yes I do. I muggle cook. I've never actually seen wizard cooking before." Lily said slowly, grasping Anne's meaning.

"More like witch cooking, dear." Anne said, laughing that silvery laugh of hers again. Lily laughed too. "But surely you must have seen magical cooking before, I know you can't use magic out of school, but surely your mother cooks? Or your father?" Asked Anne. The mention of her father almost brought Lily to the edge again, but she managed to remain calm.

"My parents are both muggles, actually." Said Lily hesitantly.

"How interesting! Did you know anything about Hogwarts before you were accepted? Do you have any older siblings who are witches or wizards? What's it like, living with muggles?" Anne asked enthusiastically. Lily realized that she had had no need to worry at all about whether or not James's parents would accept her for being a muggle. Everything would be fine. "I actually make a study of muggles, you see. I'm writing a thesis right now. I'd love to get a chance to talk to you about some of my points." She said, her eyes lighting up.

"That would be great!" Lily said. "James told me that his parents loved muggles, I didn't realize that you studied them though." Lily said, laughing again.

"Well, yes." Said Anne, somewhat sheepishly. "My husband and I are rather fond of muggles."

"So I gather." Lily replied.

"Speaking of James, where has he been?" Asked Anne, snapping back to attention. They were now sitting at the kitchen table, there were houselves bustling around them. Lily looked around, trying to avoid the question. She saw an island in the middle of the kitchen covered in flour, presumably where Anne had been working on her cooking before James returned home.

"I got into a spot of trouble, and James came to help me. I'm so sorry to have to impose on you like this. When professor Dumbledore said that I couldn't stay at home, James offered me a place to stay. I really hope it's not too inconvenient. I'll try to find another place if it is-" Lily said hurriedly, looking anxiously at Anne for her approval.

"Not at all dear! Don't think of it! We've heard so much about you from James and Sirius. Lily Evans is a famous name in this house. I wouldn't dream of turning you away, from the amount I hear of you, you're practically a celebrity." Anne said, laughing again.

"Really?" Lily asked incredulously, more than a little surprised.

"Of course you are!" Anne exclaimed. "He talks about you all the time!"

"What does he say?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well," Anne replied, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper, "in addition to how beautiful and smart you are, that you know everything, and that you do nothing but homework. He says that you're afraid of heights, have been dating a 'slimy git' for the past three years, and that you 'have a temper to match your hair.'" Anne said, laughing at the end of each description. Lily blushed hotly, looking down so as not to make eye contact with Anne. She was afraid that she would die of embarrassment, and that she was at just as great a risk of bursting out laughing at the ridiculousness of James talking about her.

"Hi mum. I'm here to steal Lily away. You'll have to teach her to cook properly some other time, Lily." James said, winking. Lily smiled, standing up.

"All right, don't get into too much trouble. Why don't you show Lily to the guest bedroom? You can help her take her stuff up." Anne suggested.

"Sirius is on that." James said, turning towards the door. Anne winked at Lily just as she was about to turn to exit the room. Her wink was identical to James's, just as suggestive of mischief. Lily knew immediately where he got it. Lily could not wait to meet Mr. Potter.

Authors Note: Okay the next chapter is really just a filler, and I'm still tweaking, but it'll be here next week without fail. I hope you realize the sacrifices i make for you guys. I have exams and everything! And yet I still post! The title of the next chapter is A Little Competition. Anyway

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