September 9, 1977

James and Lily were patrolling again. Lily was trying studiously to ignore James who was babbling about something, maybe quidditch? She was lost in her own thoughts thinking about her mum and how the wizard war might come to her.

"Lily, are you okay?"

"What? Oh, I'm fine." Lily wiped a traitorous tear from the corner of her eye not looking at James.

"You can tell me you know. I won't say anything, we should get to know each other if we're going to be doing this every week or so."

"I'm fine, really."

"Alright, well I'll go first then." James paused to take out a cigarette and light it. Lily stiffened at the sight of him smoking. She knew that he smoked, practically everyone over 15 smoked now. "I've just got my mum and dad at home, I was sort of a miracle child it seems. And my dad is this big corporate guy, but mum keeps him home a lot. I don't really have other family, and my parents are kind of old. You go."

"Okay fine, I've got me my mum, and Petunia, my sister. It's been the three of us since summer between 4th and 5th year. Petunia hates me and calls me a "freak" and I am the only wizard in a long line of muggles. Happy?" She said all this very quickly.

"Hang on, your own sister calls you a freak?"

"Uh yeah, I think it's cause she's jealous. She sent Dumbledore a letter when I said I was going to hogwarts, she wanted to come along even though she's muggle. Jealous of all the praise I got from mum and dad, but she's the older one and I think they're glad I'm not there making weird things happen."

"Lily," James grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You are not a freak."

"I know." She said pushing off his hands and continuing down the hallway.

"Alright so where's your dad?" James asked catching up. He took a long drag from his cigarette, and Lily scrunched up her nose.

"Dead."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's whatever, I've made peace."

"How did your dad die?"

Lily looked at him and his cigarette. "Lung cancer." she felt weird, like she was about to cry, which would be bad because she had spent a good while coping with her dad's death and she wasn't about to lose her shit in front of James freaking Potter.

"Oh.." James looked down at the cigarette in his hand.

"Yeah." Lily said coldly.

James threw down his cigarette and stamped it out, then picked it up and put in a bin nearby.

"Was it fast?"

"Well, they found the tumor during 4th year and I begged to come home, but dad said that he was fine and that I needed to focus on school. But then it got worse and worse, he had trouble breathing and he got confined to his armchair over the summer, then he just passed." Lily struggled to control her emotions. It had been a while since she had talked about his death. "He had smoked all his life, mostly cigars, but mum always said it would kill him, and now…" Lily couldn't talk about it anymore she turned from James and started down another hallway.

"Lily, wait!" James ran after her. "That's horrible, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah well…" Lily felt her throat constricting with imminent sobs, she didn't trust herself to speak anymore.

"Lily do you need a hug?" James peered at her behind his glasses.

"No. Let's just go."

"Alright." James seemed to pause for a moment, then he took out the cigarette pack from his pocket and threw it angrily in the trash bin.