The next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend, and they all agreed to have lunch together before going their separate ways. Since it was such a nice day, especially for October, they decided to eat outside. But when they entered the Three Broomsticks to get their meals, they saw a familiar moleskin coat.

"Hey Hagrid," the boys called. The Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts turned around in surprise.

"Ah, it's good ta see yeh again," he said, picking up a large mug from the counter.

James pulled Lily forward. "Look who we brought with us," he said with a grin.

"Lily Evans!" Hagrid boomed. "What're yeh doin' with this lot, then?"

"We're teaching her the finer points of pranking," said Sirius in a bored voice.

"So where have you been, Hagrid?" asked Peter as the others made their orders. "We haven't seen you for a couple of weeks."

"Ah, tha's a secret," he growled.

"C'mon Hagrid, you can tell us," James wheedled. But Hagrid just shook his head.

"Git on with yeh," he said, reddening beneath his beard. "I'm no' abou' ta tell yeh in here."

"All right, we'll go," said Sirius, "but just because our food is here. And we expect a full report this afternoon."

They took their lunches and headed for the fountain square near the outskirts of town.

"What do you think he was doing?" Remus asked.

"Probably something to help the Order," Sirius suggested. "I wish they'd let us in. We're of age. We could take on those Death Eaters." He pulled out his wand and pretended to curse Peter, who dodged clumsily and spilled half of his drink.

"Sounds dangerous," said Lily. She was fascinated by the Order of the Phoenix, a new group established to fight Voldemort and his forces. Somehow, probably through Hagrid, James and the others had access to information on the Order and were planning on joining after school, if not before.

"It is," he agreed. "But it would be worth it just to be able to do something." They arranged themselves on the fountain's edge, and Lily found herself between James and Remus. She looked around, noting how busy the square was. It was mostly filled with people shopping, but there was a small group of kids playing beyond the fence that separated Hogsmeade from the hills.

She suddenly realized how hungry she was and took a huge bite out of her sandwich. She was quite content to eat and listen to the conversation on her right between James, Sirius, and Peter on the Order. But she soon found this annoying, because any time her thoughts strayed to the idea of James risking his life in the Order, her throat tightened up and she couldn't swallow her delicious sandwich.

She took a gulp from her drink to return her throat to normal and turned to Remus, who was staring off into the distance. Concerned, she followed his gaze until she saw the little kids. They seemed to be playing some form of hide-and-seek.

The four-year-old girl that Remus was watching was crouched in the green-brown grass, beaming as she watched the other children running back and forth. Lily had to do a double take, her eyes widening as she realized what she was seeing. The girl's hair was the exact color of the grass!

"Oh, how adorable," Lily whispered.

Suddenly, the girl jumped up and raced for the other side of the fountain. Her braided hair turned stone grey as she hid behind the fountain. The others spotted her and chased after her. The girl shrieked and circled the fountain, laughing at the others.

She tripped on her skirt and crashed into Remus, who laughed as he helped her up. She grinned a gap-toothed smile at him, her hair turning bright purple, and then she was off again.

"Did you see that?" she asked James.

"Why, you want to adopt her?"

She lightly punched his arm. "No, of course not."

"Well," said Sirius as he stood up. "I'm off to Zonko's. Need anything?"

"Yeah, hold on." James fished a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"I think I'll stop by Honeydukes," said Peter.

"You just had lunch!" Lily exclaimed.

"So?"

"Where are you going Remus?" asked James.

"I don't know," he said. "I might pick up some supplies."

The boys split off on their own, leaving Lily and James on the fountain.

"So where are we going?" James asked her.

Lily shrugged. "Let's just start walking." They started down the street.

"There's always Madam Puddifoot's," James suggested as they passed the tea shop.

Lily made a disgusted face. "Or not."

He laughed. "Oh good, I was hoping you'd say that."

They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, browsing in the stores or just watching everyone else shop. Lily found herself watching James out of the corner of her eye more than she was watching anything else. She laughed more that afternoon than she had in a long time. And as the doubts began to creep into her mind, she hurriedly tried to squash them.

He's just a friend, she repeated to herself. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't matter if you kissed, it's not even real. He's just helping you out of a jam. He's just a friend.

And when that didn't work, she started to panic.

You can't be in love with him, she ordered herself. You just can't. I won't let you.

But then she'd meet his brown eyes and forget her commands completely.

"Oh no," said James under his breath. He was looking down a side street. She looked too, but only saw Snape walking toward them. He wasn't even paying attention to them, but was engrossed in a book.

"James, don't," she warned, gripping his arm. "He's not doing anything, leave him alone." The look in his eyes scared her. This is why you can't love him, she told herself. He's not a good person. And that thought made her crumble inside.

She could see him make his decision. He tried to force a smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt him." But she could feel him tensing.

Snape looked up as he turned the page. He saw James, and reached for his wand, but James had his out first. "Don't you dare," James growled.

"James, stop it!" she cried, trying to pull his wand arm down.

"Stay out of this, Mudblood," Snape spat, never taking his eyes off his enemy's wand.

"You take that back!" James roared.

Snape shot off a curse, not at James, but at Lily. She could only watch in shock as a spatter of purple flames sped toward her. James stepped in front of her and used the Shield Charm. The spell pushed them backward, but otherwise faded away harmlessly, and Snape had slipped down another side street.

"You all right?" he asked.

She could only nod.

He glared at where Snape had stood. "I'll kill him," he said in a low voice. "That was definitely a dark arts spell and I swear, I'll kill him."

"No," she said, suddenly unable to breathe at what he was saying. "He was just defending himself."

"No, I was defending myself, and you," James argued.

"You didn't attack him," she realized. "You didn't fight back."

He shook his head. "I could never live with myself if someone hurt you," he said, almost in a whisper. "You're far more important to me than some stupid street fight."

Now she really couldn't breathe. Because she felt exactly the same way.

A/N: (Just to clarify: Snape used the same spell as the Death Eater who attacked Hermione in the Dept. of Mysteries.)

Awwww I love Tonks! I just had to put her in, but in a way that Remus would never remember seeing her. And if anyone bothers to ask, no Andromeda Black/Tonks was not there, it was Tonks' dad (in the background and unmentioned), so no, Sirius would not have recognized anything about her.