Lily and Petunia had spent most of the summer holiday avoiding each other, and the only contact she'd made with Severus was a couple of awkward eye contacts from across the street, when near the end of the holiday Lily's mum marched into the living room, the determination clear on her face.
"Girls I've had enough of this constant ignoring" She announce, turning off the TV and taking the book out of Lily's hands.
"But mum!" Petunia moaned whilst attempting to turn the TV back on.
"No." She growled "Magic has completely ripped this family apart and you and your sister have gotten out of hand"
"It's not my fault Petunia can't accept who I am!" Lily pouted.
"Oh stop being so full of yourself" Petunia stuck her nose in the air.
"I'm not full of myself! I've just been sat here reading! You're just jealous" Lily shouted at her.
"I WILL NEVER BE JEALOUS OF YOU, YOU FREAK" Petunia got up.
"GIRLS!" their mom screamed. "Please stop it" she tried to hold in the tears "I don't like seeing you like this; you used to be so close! So we're going to the fair" Both Petunia and Lily let out massive sighs "And I've invited Severus too, the poor boy seems to have no-one" Lily just got up and walked out of the room and up to her bedroom to sulk.
The fair was bustling with hundreds of children trying to pack in as much fun before going back to school the week after. The noise was unbearable as ecstatic screams came from the waltzers.
"Kids" Lily muttered to herself as she heard someone scream about flying on their way past.
"Why don't you go in the fun house" their mum suggested "You two used to love the fun house!"
"Uh, no" Petunia grunted.
"For me" she begged.
"Fine" Lily hated seeing their mum cry after what happened with her dad so she dragged Petunia and Severus over to the fun house.
"Get your filthy hand off me" Petunia snapped at Lily.
"Petunia" Severus said timidly
"Oh shut up you freakling"
"Grow up Petunia" Lily said bluntly "Do you feel nothing for mum or is your heart a black hole of annoyance"
"Don't talk to me about hurting mum" Petunia's face went completely serious as they went into the fun house.
"What's that supposed to mean" Lily started to raise her voice.
"Please you two" Severus begged.
"Oh shut up Severus" Lily and Petunia chorused, so Severus just slunk off to the circling board that five children were attempting to do a cartwheel over – and failing.
"I mean, Lily, that it's YOUR fault dad's dead!" Petunia screamed.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Lily shouted back.
"IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU THOSE FREAKS WOULDN'T HAVE KILLED HIM!" Petunia got right up in Lily's face.
After thinking it through Lily burst into tears and ran out up the stairs of the fun house, Severus quickly following. Lily ran out onto the 'balcony' of the fun house to get some air.
"Lily?" Severus said softly.
"What!" She snapped.
"It's not your fault" Severus calmed her, putting his arm on her shoulder.
"Pads what are we doing here?" James shouted as Sirius dragged him through the fair "We've come all the way up here just for a Muggle fair"
"James, it's a fair, that's all you need to know, and anyway I want to know what a 'waltzer' is" Sirius shouted back excitedly.
They came out in a clearing by the Waltzers and the fun house.
"Oh my goodness, do they have health and safety!" James exclaimed as they stared at the spinning tubs as they whizzed around in circles.
"I know! Isn't it amazing?" Sirius screamed in delight as the waltzers came to a halt "Quick let's go!" He dragged James onto a waltzer, pulled the bar down, and bounced up and down in anticipation. As the waltzers started spinning Sirius threw his hands up in the air and didn't put them down for the whole ride.
"JAMES I'M FLYING" He yelled over the pounding music.
"YEAH IT'S AMAZ... Pads is that Lily?" James caught a glimpse of red hair as they whirled around.
"Why on earth would Lily be here?" He shouted back, arms still in the air as he was being thrown around the waltzer.
"She's with Snivulus and Petunia!" He gasped in shock "They're going into the fun house"
"Prongs you've got Lily on the mind" Sirius sighed before headbutting the back of the seat and kicking James in the shin.
Finally they got out of the waltzers and staggered towards the fun house
Through all of the noise they suddenly heard some screaming coming from inside.
"Lily" James said as he wobbled forwards.
"How would you know?" Sirius tried to jump and see through the window.
"Believe me, I've heard enough of Lily yelling to know when it's her"
"I'm surprised you know what she sounds like when she's not yelling to be honest" Sirius joked, straight after he said this two people ran out onto the balcony.
"Prongs, don't look now but, er…." Sirius started.
"What on earth is that git doing?" James said in shock, and without thinking he paid the fee for the fun house and charged up the stairs. Sirius tried to run after him but it turns out allowing yourself to be thrown around a waltzer isn't the best idea so he ended up collapsing at the entrance.
"Watch out you idiot!" Petunia shouted as James charged past her "Git" she muttered under her breath.
"Severus, I really don't need your help" Lily said as James hid behind the door to the balcony.
"But Lily, you really shouldn't let her push you around!" Severus stared at her.
Lily stood biting her lip in deep thought for a bit "She has got a point though, I mean if it wasn't for me being who I am then my dad..."
"Don't. You didn't raise a wand on your father, you never sent the order. It wasn't your fault" Severus insisted, trying to take her hand before Lily pulled it away.
"I know but, no offense, but you're the last person I want to see right now" Lily apologised.
"What, I bet you'd prefer that dumb arrogant prick James to be here?" Severus hated the way Lily like James more than him when he'd been the one to teach her all about magic and teach her not to be scared even after what had happened.
"Don't call James that, he's not that bad…" Lily tried to calm Severus down.
"Can't you see he's manipulating you Lils!" Severus raised his voice "I would never do that to you"
"I'm definitely not manipulating Lily, Severus, so why don't you back off?" James emerged from behind the door.
"James?" Severus and Lily said simultaneously.
"Yeah, what a lovely coincidence!" James said sarcastically.
"James, it was my mum's idea" Lily pleaded, taking a step away from Severus.
"She's telling the truth" Severus said meekly.
"And you agreed?" He frowned at Severus. Glancing between the two of them Lily decided it would be better to do this apart from Severus, so she grabbed James' hand and pulled him up to the next level of the fun house.
"Look James, do you know what it's like for my mum seeing me and Petunia like we are?" Lily asked looking straight into his eyes.
"But what did you ever do to her? What's this about your dad?" At the mention of her dad Lily's face crumpled and she bit her lip even harder.
"Not now. I can't talk about this now" She insisted, angrily wiping tears from her eyes and trying to control her breathing.
"Look I understand, I had it with my mom and every day my dad went out to work as an Auror" He took her hands from her eyes and held them reassuringly.
"I just can't right now" Lily said embarrassed. that she'd broken down in front of him.
"It's Ok Lils," James said whilst hugging her, and then Petunia came storming up the stairs.
"Lily what on earth are you doing?" She screamed over at the two of them and they jumped apart.
"Uh, yeah, this is James" she said awkwardly.
"Oh so you're a slag as well as a freak, you're leading on two weirdos now!" Petunia shrieked in disgust.
"Don't talk to her like that!" James stood in front of Lily protectively.
"I will speak to my freak of a sister in any way I choose" She said defensively.
"Well…" James started aggressively.
"Leave it James, she's not worth it" Lily said, it was at that point when James and Lily would have loved to storm out, but they were in a fun house, and it turns out it's very difficult to look unimpressed and annoyed whilst skooching down a bad fairground slide with your feet.
"You know, Prongs, I'm always impressed by the way you come out of everything with your dignity" Sirius remarked when they emerged out of the slide.
"Shut up" He said grumpily, clutching Lily's hand.
"Um, Lily, Severus seems to have grown considerably since I last saw him" Lily's mum said as she strolled overlooking suspiciously at James
"Uh, yeah, mum this is James" Lily introduced the two of them.
"Good afternoon Mrs Evans I'm James Potter" James beamed at her and shook her hand.
"Well hello James Potter" Her mum beamed back.
"Well that went better than I thought it would" Lily thought to herself, things always seemed to have a way of working themselves out.
"So, how do you know this James, Lils?" Her mum winked at her.
"Oh you know, school and stuff..." Lily mumbled awkwardly.
"School and stuff" Her mom parroted, raising her eyebrows at him "Well don't let me embarrass you in front of your school 'friend' Lils" She winked before wondering off towards the candyfloss stand.
"Well you have one lovely mother!" James grinned as they walked away, not even realising how they'd slipped into holding hands.
"Oh God don't, she's the worst!" Lily moaned, glancing around to check she wasn't watching them.
"I'll let you judge bad parents as soon as you've met mine" Sirius jumped out in front of them, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Uh Pads, what's with the creepy face there?" James tried slowly walking away because usually when Sirius did that face immense pain usually followed. James flinched as Sirius leapt at him, but was surprised when all he did was grab his hand and pull it up, revealing him clutching hands with Lily. All James did was stop and inspect the hand, checking it was his.
"I think you two need some time alone" Sirius laughed, flicking James in the face to check he hadn't turned to stone before running off.
"Ok so all of those terrible pick up lines had to have been leading up to something" Lily laughed.
"Oh, yes, obviously, I, er, Lily..." James could feel the words getting trapped in his throat.
"James I don't mean to pressure you but you have had five years to think about this" She squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"Well when you've proposed five times having to go back to the basics is a big step down" He managed to joke, going bright red with the thinking.
"Oh come here you dummy" Lily giggled, pulling his head down to hers and kissing him mid stutter "James Potter, will you do me the honour of being my boyfriend?"
"You know I'll have to think about it, how do you feel about chasing me for five years?" Lily slapped him lightly on the arm and raised her eyebrows "Obviously yes!" He picked her up and spun her round until he almost collapsed.
"I'M GOING OUT WITH LILY EVANS!" He cheered doing a cart wheel before regaining composure and flicking his hair back "Totally cool with it" He remarked. Laughing, Lily took his hand and they walked on past the staring crowd.
Later on James and Sirius were leaving the fair after a hilarious day on all sorts of new rides like 'Twister', 'The Magic Carpet', and 'Evolution'.
"Still regretting coming to the fair" Sirius laughed as James wandered along in a daze.
"Pads, I have no idea how you did it, but I love you" James turned and hugged Sirius right in the middle of the crowd.
"Hang on, so technically, I got you and Lily together?" Sirius' face lit up as he pulled James off his shoulder.
"Uh, yeah" James was worried about the consequence of his answer.
"And, in the bigger picture, it was the Marauders, not the girls that got you two together?" Sirius wanted to make sure he was right.
"I suppose so, yeah, if you totally stretch it past the realms of belief" James was desperate to find out what this meant "Why is it so important?"
"Naked girls, duh!"
Lily, Sasha, and Kara got off the train at Hogwarts after a long journey of non-stop talking to come face to face with two beaming Marauders, and a confused looking Peter and Remus. James, Lily, and Sirius hadn't told anyone about what had happened at the fair, they were waiting for the perfect moment. On seeing the four guys Sasha charged up to them and hugged them all – two weeks in Wales with her family had almost killed her.
"What's with the smiles guys?" Sasha said cautiously as she pulled away.
"Nothing, nothing!" Sirius laughed "It's just lovely to see you!"
"So what happened in your holidays?" Kara asked as they walked up to the castle.
"Not much, I got in a massive row with my family which resulted in me moving out then going to live at James', you know, the usual" Sirius said casually.
"You what!" Kara stared at them open mouthed "Seriously guys I leave you two alone for six weeks and this happens! I mean my family are probably thrilled that the Black's have lost their heir, but really?"
"Well, Kara, when it's the summer holidays…" Sirius started.
"What?"
"You get yourself thrown out of your house!" He smiled "Duh"
"What about you James?" Kara just decided to ignore Sirius before he got too annoying.
"Well, this homeless weirdo turned up at my house and now he won't leave…" Sirius punched him in the arm "Ouch! Oh, and my mum's out of hospital!"
"No way!" They all were genuinely happy, Mrs Potter was the kind of mom that managed to be the mom of everyone around her as well.
"Do they know what happened yet?" Remus asked seriously.
"No, but I have a pretty good idea" James glared over to where Severus and the rest of the Slytherins were slumping about. Bellatrix just turned around and waved at him cheerily.
The Marauders and the girls were all sat around the table in the Great Hall waiting for the new first years to come and be sorted, James and Lily couldn't take their eyes off each other.
"Here they come!" Sirius said excitedly, new first years were fresh meat on the pranking field.
"Edward Mclaggen" McGonagall called out
"As in Aiden McLaggen's brother?" James practically shout whispered.
"Yup" Sirius sighed.
"Ok, definitely on the prank list" They all agreed as it was announced that he was in Gryffindor.
"Ok, what on earth is the prank list?" Sasha asked confused.
"This is what happens when we let outsiders join the group" Sirius sighed.
"The Marauders see the prank list as an initiation to the world of Hogwarts," Kara explained "However to not appear like complete monsters anyone with a noteworthy family or traumatic past are let off the list" She sighed at the childishness "And any family members of their enemies are put straight to the top"
"It's a great list!" Sirius defended "They can't be innocent in Hogwarts, it is not the way" He said in a sensei-like manner. "Plus they're the only ones that aren't used to our pranks"
"Is it too late to go back to hating you?" Lily joked. By the time they continued to pay attention to the placements they were already nearing the end.
"Joshua McKinnon" Was announced.
"Definitely off the list" James announced "Our families are great friends, not gonna happen"
"Yeah Marlene's in our year, I think she'd throw you all out of the common room window if you touched him" Lily agreed, lingering slightly too long in James' eyes.
After the placements The Marauders and the Girls sat underneath the old oak tree, the first years were always manic and lost on the first day so they tried to avoid the common room.
"You, know guys, we're not thick" Sasha announced, looking straight at James, Lily and Sirius.
"Uh, I don't see what you could know…" Sirius tried to dance around the subject.
"Neither do I, you're keeping something from us, aren't you?" Sasha looked them all straight in the eye in tur
The three guilty suspects glanced at each other, nodded, then looked back at Sasha.
"I'll give you three clues" Sirius said.
"Ok then," Kara agreed.
"One – it involves James and Lily, Two – as a result of it you could say I won, and Three – nudity is involved" Sirius got a LOT of confused looks.
"Should I be seriously worried?!" Kara exclaimed "What on earth are you going on about?"
"Guys, we're going to need a lot more clues other than those, let's face it, messed up clues" Remus told them.
"Tell them" James mouthed at Lily, but she just sat there worriedly.
"I can't" She mouthed back. Seeing how uncomfortable Lily was James got up, walked over to Lily, and took hold of her hand.
"Oh. My. God" Sasha sat there her mouth wide open.
"WE LOST THE BET!" Kara sobbed.
"What bet?" Lily and James looked over, confused at their friends.
"Urr, we sort of made a bet on who could get you two together first?" Peter prepared for the pain of the imminent punch from James.
"YOU WHAT!" Lily screeched.
"What were the stakes?" James asked.
"James!" Lily lightly slapped him.
"The losers have to run naked into the lake" Sirius said looking guilty.
"Well that makes it better then, at least I get something funny out of it" Lily laughed. They all looked over at her confused.
"James is a bad influence on you, Lily, get out while you can!" Remus joked, but ended up getting punched in the arm by James.
"Ready?" Lily called from outside the castle.
"NO!" Sasha and Kara yelled at her through the door.
"Too bad, get out here now and get into the lake!" Sirius shouted from down by the lake.
Kara and Sasha ran out of the door and to the lake as if there was a rabid lion behind them screaming their heads off, and leaped straight into the lake to a round of applause from the boys, Sirius even whooped.
"I hate all of you!" Sasha screamed from the lake shivering.
"I'm going to have to say I'm loving you right now" Sirius called down to her.
"Oh no Black now you're pushing it!" Lily said as she shoved Sirius into the lake after the two girls, but he managed to grab onto Peter and Remus' sleeves taking them down with him. James just stood there laughing at all of them.
"Oh I see, now you have Lilypop, there, we're just your worthless friends!" Sirius joked.
James just smiled down at Lily as they stood underneath the willow tree by the lake.
"Did you hear something?" Lily asked smiling.
"Nothing" James smirked as he bent down and kissed her.
Authors note:
I HATE THE SUN, I have just been sheltering inside all day writing this and I've still gone bright red -.- I won't be able to update until Wednesday at most because I'm going to the beach tomorrow :D However it would be nice to return to a few comments *hint hint* now I need to go
-Mischief managed.