Had trouble updating this, sorry, here's chapter 2.

Disclaimer: I still don't own HP, haha.

6th Year

In front of Lily Evans was 2 letters. One from her mother, the other from her sister.

She first picked up the letter from her mother, yawning. It read:

Dear Lily,

Has Tuney's letter gotten to you yet? If so, then I'm so sorry. I can't reason with her. She is so bent on having things her way, and I don't know what to do. Don't worry, of course you are coming, but-

Here, Lily paused and blinked. Coming where? Had Petunia suddenly decided that Lily was not allowed to come home? Lily had met him once before, and rather than sticking to the original story of her living in Scotland at boarding school, Petunia had encouraged the idea that Lily spent her school terms at a mental institution in London. Vernon proceeded to treat her like a disease for the rest of the evening.

Frowning, Lily set down the letter from her mother and picked up her sister's instead.

She pulled out the card inside, and it read:

David and Jane Evans are happy to announce the marriage of their daughter

Petunia Anne Evans

To

Vernon Brian Dursley

Son of Peter and Wanda Dursley

The wedding is to be held on July 16, 1977

A reception will be held immediately after the ceremony.

"Ah," Lily thought savagely, "That's what mum's talking about. The walrus has finally proposed, I see." Sighing, she looked in the envelope again and drew out a letter from Petunia.

Lily,

I'm getting married, as you know. Unfortunately for you, you aren't coming, I don't care what mum says. Don't act up, you're 16 now, and you can't act like a child anymore. Vernon already thinks something is up with you, and he's only seen you twice. You should probably stay at someone else's house for the summer since there will be a lot of wedding planning and such with his family. I can't risk his family finding out about you and your freakiness.

-Petunia

Lily had long since accepted that her sister would never like her, but this hurt. And then the hurt within her slowly turned into anger. She had been angry before. When Snape had called her mudblood in her 5th year, all the countless times she and Potter fought, of when he asked her out at the most inconvenient times. Those were infuriating. But they paled in comparison to this. A slow, burning, feeling of absolute fury and anguish was coursing through her veins.

How dare she.

How dare she?

Who did she think she was to forbid her from going to her only sister's wedding, to forbid her from coming home to her own house? In response to her unexpected feelings of resentment, Lily took the stupid wedding announcement and tore it to pieces. Resisting the urge to scream at the top of her lungs, (it was one in the morning, after all) she tossed the pieces into the fire. This did not help.

Angry as ever, she grabbed her charms textbook off of the desk and threw it at the opposite wall. And then, as if the world was trying to ruin her life, the portrait hole opened, and she found herself across the room from James Potter.

The book missed him by a mere foot. They stared at each other in shock, in utter disbelief about what had just happened. James cleared his throat, and said, in the absolute calmest of voices,

"Alright Evans?" Lily said nothing, her mouth open.

"Trying out a new hobby, are we? Book throwing? Target practice? You'd be a fairly good chaser with that aim, you know."

"S-sorry," she stammered. "That was an accident. I didn't know you were coming."

"S'all right," he said yawning, "now what's the problem?"

"Problem," Lily echoed, "I have no problem."

"Oh, so you've been throwing books around at unsuspecting people for fun, have you," he asked, rolling his eyes. Lily frowned.

"I already told you, it was an accident," she said. "I wasn't trying to hit you."

Silence. Lily summoned her book from across the room and began packing her things in her bag.

"I should probably get to bed," she said softly.

"Evans," James said as he walked toward her, "what's the matter? What happened?" Lily said nothing, focusing on getting her things packed away. "Look," James said, "I know that we aren't the best of friends, but you can tell—"

"It's my sister," Lily blurted out, turning to face him. "She hates me, and... well here"

She handed James the letter from Petunia and turned away as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Oh, Evans, I'm so sorry," James said quietly.

"I don't know what to do," she said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "She's my sister, and it-it's not supposed to be like this, but I can't change her mind, and mum says it will be alright but I don't believe her because nothing has ever changed ever and all we do is fight and it's hurting my parents, and-"

She trailed off, losing her breath, and James abruptly put his arms around her as she cried. She returned his embrace, and as he held her, whispering words of encouragement, her thoughts turned from the mess that was her relationship with her sister, to James Potter.

Of all the people she expected to comfort her about her family issues, it was not him. And yet, it was. He was the one comforting her, letting her know that she would be okay, treating her as an equal, as a friend.

Friend. Is that what they were now? They certainly didn't fight as much anymore, aside from the usual banter, and to be honest, she didn't mind it too much. Not to mention, he seemed to be a much better person. Yes, he and his "Marauders" were still pranking others, as they always would, but they were a lot less vicious, and targeted the student body at large rather than individuals. Yes, James Potter had changed for the better, but why?

She recalled a piece of conversation that had occurred a year previously:

"You bully people for the fun of it, just because you can, and we will never be friends while you do that. So, until you clean up your act, don't expect anything from me."

Had he changed for her? Surely not, but still... James interrupted her thoughts, saying quietly,

"It's going to be okay. Maybe not now, or even tomorrow, but it will one day."

"Will it," she asked doubtfully, pulling away to look at him.

"Yes," he said kindly, "it worked out for Sirius, didn't it?" Lily nodded and looked at the clock.

"I suppose," she murmured, "I'd better head to bed,"

"Yeah, same here," James said yawning. Lily gathered the rest of her supplies, smiling slightly. Maybe he was right. Maybe it would all work out in the end.

"Hey," James said.

"Hm," Lily replied, turning to face him.

"If you ever want to talk, Evans, just let me know. I'm always around" She smiled at him, leaning against the doorway to the staircase that led to the dormitories.

"Thanks, Potter," she said.

"No problem," He said happily, "That's what friends are for, right?"

"Friends," Lily repeated slowly, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, we are friends, aren't we? We certainly aren't mortal enemies anymore."

"I suppose not," she laughed softly and offered her hand to him. "Friends?" He took it, grinning broadly as he did so.

"Friends" She turned and made her way upstairs, ready to fall into bed and sleep.

"One more thing," James said, "friends generally call each other by their first names, you know,"

She turned around and looked at him. He was looking at her with a smile, a hopeful smile, much like the one he had given her the previous year after she had accepted his apology. That time, she shot him down at once, the smile vanishing as soon as it had come. But not this time.

"Do they," She replied returning the smile, "Well then in that case, goodnight James,"

"Night Lily," He replied, looking as if the very act of saying her name brought music to his ears. And, though she did not know for certain, it did.