AN: I spend a fair bit of time at the start of this chapter talking about things that are specific to the British education system (specifically England, Wales and NI) which I thought I'd better explain further for those not familiar with it.

A-Levels - taken in the last year of secondary school or specifically a sixth form college (Upper Sixth - you'd be 17 or 18 depending on your birthday) and are really designed for getting you into university.

Technical College - open for those 16+ and normally designed for those not bound for university. More vocational and are usually what apprenticeships are offered through.

You can take A-Levels through a Technical College or Night Classes and go onto university from there as well but the above would have been the more traditional route, especially in the 1970s.

Of course, this is a very broad overview of the system and there are/were lots of differences.

Saturday 17th December 1977

Evans House, 09:00

Lily hummed under her breath as she helped clear the table, much to the amusement of everyone at said table. Well, nearly everyone. Petunia wasn't amused but she was so rarely amused these days that she didn't count.

Not Lily wasn't going to let Petunia get her down. No, nothing was going to spoil her good mood, nothing at all. She was allowed to be happy about her life at the moment, push all the looming shadows to the back of her mind and just focus on the good. It was the first day of the Christmas Holidays, you couldn't help but be in a good mood. It was Christmas!

Sure, she didn't obsess over it like James did (her boyfriend!) but that didn't mean she disliked the holiday. Honestly, who didn't like Christmas?

Even Severus was happy this morning. Well, he wasn't grumpy. And that was a good start. Probably because Chryssie put a big mug of coffee in front of him before anyone even tried to interact with him. Smart move.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells..."

"Eurgh, can you not?" Petunia snapped, startling her from her singing.

"Petunia," Rosemary said reproachfully.

"She's deliberately being annoying!"

"I was just humming," Lily said in confusion. "I didn't mean to start singing..."

She really hadn't. It just kind of slipped out. And really, how could hum 'Jingle Bells' and not burst into song.

"It's festive," Chryssie added.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Don't you have work to go to or something?" Chryssie asked irritably.

"Chrysanthemum," Gavin said warningly.

Chryssie scrunched up her nose at the rare use of her first name. Lily shook her head. Chryssie still didn't seem to know where the line was with Petunia and how far their parents would let her tease her.

"Sorry," she said reluctantly.

Petunia stiffly nodded at her and took a sip of tea. Probably so she didn't have to say anything. Not that she had much to say - the most Petunia had been doing was taking a typing course at the local night school. Apparently, they had lessons during the day as well. It was a Technical College, providing courses for apprenticeships and the like. Not somewhere where you'd expect someone with Petunia's qualifications to go - she did have her A-Levels, after all, but that was where she wanted to go. She hadn't wanted to go to university. She wanted to work in an office. Something Lily thought was boring and something Petunia was definitely overqualified for. But she wasn't going to start a pointless argument. It wasn't like anyone could change Petunia's mind once she dug her heels in.

No, it was much better to think of happier things. Like her friends. Like Christmas. Like James. Lily let out a happy sigh at the thought of her boyfriend. Yes, James Potter was her boyfriend. Something g she didn't think she'd ever get tired of saying to herself.

As long as she didn't get all soppy and giggly overtime, she thought it was okay to daydream about him. Hey, it made her happy. Very happy.

"Okay, I can't take it anymore," Rosemary exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Tell me about your boyfriend, Lily."

"I really don't need to hear about this," Gavin muttered, reaching for his newspaper and half getting out of his seat. Only half because his wife gave him a stern look which had him sheepishly sitting down again. Though, he did give his newspaper a doleful look.

"You already knew?" Lily exclaimed in dismay.

Why hadn't they said anything? Was that a bad thing?

"Sweetheart, it's not hard to tell," Rosemary told her.

But Lily knew that it wasn't a guess. Oh, no, definitely not. She saw that shifty look on Chryssie's face. She gave her youngest sister an elbow as she walked past.

"What was that for?"

"I know you told them."

She gave her parents a look for good measure. Gavin held up his hands in defence.

"I'll never reveal my sources."

"But you have sources."

"Well..."

"Dad!" Chryssie exclaimed. "You may as well have told her I told you!"

"She already guessed that."

"But thank you for confirming it," Lily interjected.

"Oh, see barely told us anything." Rosemary dismissed. "Just that you were finally going out with a boy you've had a liking for for years."

"I have not liked James Potter for years!"

She hadn't! She definitely hadn't. He had been obnoxious until recently. Severus and Chryssie both snorted at that. She glared at them. Only Severus recoiled slightly. See, he was the sensible one of the pair.

"James Potter, James Potter," Rosemary mused. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Lily always complains about him," Chryssie offered.

"I do not."

"You did."

"So?" she asked defensively. "I'm sure plenty of people complain about him. He was obnoxious."

"But he's not anymore?" Rosemary latched onto that statement.

Lily blushed. "No."

"And I'm pretty sure no one else complained about him," Chryssie told her. "Just you."

"Sev did."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I had cause to. The Marauders liked to target me."

"And you them," Chryssie added.

"Yes. But they were more infuriating."

"Complaining overly much about someone without good cause is normally a sign that you like someone," Gavin decided to tell them.

"It wasn't like that," Lily said in exasperation.

"I'm pretty sure it was," Chryssie said in a stage whisper.

"Urgh. Who cares if one of your freaks likes you or you like a freak?" Petunia exploded. "It's not like either of you are normal!"

"Petunia!" both Evans parents scolded.

"I'm already going," Petunia spat, shoving her chair back and stomping off. The front door slammed behind her.

Severus watched, wide-eyed. Lily just sighed. Why was Petunia like this?

"She's such a sour-faced... person," Chryssie finished hastily at a sharp look from her father. "Never happy for anyone."

"Oh, she's just going through some things," Rosemary dismissed.

"She's been 'going through something since she was twelve," Lily felt like she had to point out.

Her parents always made excuses for Petunia. There's no way she would ever get away acting like that. Especially in front of company. Sure, it was only Sev but it was still rude.

"She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life," Rosemary excused.

"Can we go back to Lily and James Potter?" Chryssie asked.

"No."

"Yes," Severus said with a smirk.

Lily gave him a glare but he wasn't affected by this one. Probably because of the blush she could feel heating up her cheeks.

"Okay, that's enough talk of James Potter and Lily's attraction to him," Rosemary said, clapping her hands to get their attention.

Finally. Thank Merlin. Lily didn't think she would be able to take anymore. Ah, actually, she might have to.

"Oh, may I go to a party his family are throwing for the New Year?" she asked before it was too late. "Severus and I are both invited."

That got her father's attention. He looked up from his newspaper and raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I've heard it's quite a big party," Severus piped up.

Oh. That wasn't something Lily knew. Was it really big? Or was that Severus just repeating gossip? James had said he was allowed to invite his friends so Lily had kind of assumed it was a smallish affair. Then again, this was James. He never did anything small and he had to have got that from somewhere.

"Where does he live?"

That's where Lily faltered. "I, uh, I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Lily turned to her friend. "Do you know?"

Sev shrugged. "Midlands, somewhere. Maybe? I'm not sure."

Gavin gave them a perplexed look. "How do you expect to get there if you don't know where he lives?"

"Floo," Severus replied promptly. "Via the fireplace," he added when his confused expression didn't abate.

"Huh. Okay then."

Her father still looked a bit bewildered but accepting. Good, because Lily wasn't sure she could explain how the floo system worked.

"So, can I go?" she asked, having never got an answer.

"Yes, you may," she was given permission.

"Yes!" She embraced her father from behind. "Oh, thank you, daddy!"

"Yes. Well, no funny business at midnight with this Potter boy."

She grinned at him. "You're supposed to kiss someone at midnight."

Dodging a swat, Lily darted over to Severus. "Are you going?"

"I suppose."

He didn't sound excited but Lily knew her friend. He was.

"You're going to need a nice dress," Rosemary said. "Something suitable for a party."

"Why did my wallet just shrivel in on itself?" Gavin complained.

Tuesday 20th December 1975

Smith Sett, 14:00

It was quite boring waiting for Christmas and all the related festivities to come. Why they had been let off so early was beyond Alice but she wasn't wasting her time. Far from it, actually. She was reading her Transfiguration textbook. She had found herself starting to struggle in the subject the last week or two of term and she wanted to go over everything again to see if that cleared things up for her. Everything had been taught at such a fast pace this year that it was any wonder she was struggling. Not everyone's mind worked at lightning speed. If this didn't clear anything up, she would ask Professor McGonagall for help when she returned. None of this dithering around, being ashamed like she used to.

"You could be married now," mother said with a wistful sigh.

Alice tried not to snap at her. That would not be productive at all. Not when her mother was in one of these moods. Alice didn't even understand why she was being like this. It wasn't like she was never going to get married to Frank. Merlin, it was happening this summer! Not even a year away. Mother could wait that long, surely?

Apparently not. She couldn't wait a year. Which made no sense because Alice was the one doing the waiting. And she couldn't wait but her mother killed all her building excitement about it getting closer to the wedding.

Oh, she really did know why her mother was like this - though Alice didn't have to like it. All her mother ever wanted was for Alice to make a good match. That's all a daughter was good for, to make the family proud. Well, she was doing that. Or, going to do it. This summer! Six more months. If Alice could be patient, so could her mother. It wasn't that hard if you actually had things to do instead of just obsessing over a wedding that was already planned down to the last tiny detail. Honestly.

"Did you hear me, Alice?" her mother said in a slightly louder voice, sounding more annoyed this time. "You could have been married by now instead of studying for some pointless exams."

"But I'm not," Alice said shortly. "And they aren't pointless," she added, unable to put up with her mother anymore.

There were more important things out there than her not getting married soon enough.

Like people not being able to get married all because, well, they were dead! Yes, she read the news. It might not be the most interesting thing in the world but she didn't want to be ignorant of current events. Even if the current events were horrible.

What was not horrible, despite what her mother said, was her not getting married until the summer. It was even in July, for crying out loud!

"They are for you. What are you going to do with them? NEWTs don't teach you how to be a good wife or mother."

And how would she know that? Her mother barely passed her OWLs if Alice remembered correctly. She practically bragged about it. Celia Smith didn't think that women needed to do exams. Well, not women of their class. It wasn't like they were going to become Healers or Aurors or even Ministry workers, so what was the point?

Well, Alice wanted to prove a point. One, that she could do the exams and two, well, show that she could do them well. Was that the same thing? She wasn't sure. Either way, she was sitting these exams whether her mother liked it or not.

"No, but they do teach me things," Alice said. "Really interesting things."

"Things you don't need to know," Celia sniffed.

"But I want to know them, can't you understand that?"

"No. Because it doesn't make any sense," Celia said bluntly.

"It does if you study."

Sometimes anyway.

Her mother made a tsking noise and gave her a sharp look before returning to her browsing of catalogues. In silence. Which meant that she was sulking because of how Alice spoke to her. A grown woman. Sulking. Because someone didn't agree with her or bend to her will. Whatever. Quite frankly, Alice couldn't bring herself to try and quickly make amends with her mother. She wasn't the one at fault here.

Actually, no one was. Each of them was entitled to their own opinions. Her mother was allowed to long for the wedding and Alice was allowed to be impatient with her mother. Neither of them had to necessarily agree with each other.

Though, the silent treatment meant that Alice got some peace and quiet.

Of course, that couldn't last long. Her mother simply couldn't not talk.

"People talk, Alice."

"They tend to do that," Alice said.

Gossip, more like. About pointless things. Like who was doing what and how scandalous it was. Even when they were talking about fashion (still something that Alice loved), they had to be putting someone down. It just wasn't fun to listen to. It always made Alice feel awkward but her mother thrived off it.

"Don't make light of this!"

"What they say about me isn't that important," Alice tried to explain.

"Not important?" Celia said in a scandalised voice. "Alice, you are aware of who my friends are, aren't you?"

Alice rolled her eyes. Oh, she was unfortunately very aware. Her own aunt (who was married to the heir of the Smith family), a cadet branch Selwyn, a Brown and someone else Alice could never remember the name of. It didn't matter because they were all basically the same. Women who married well, didn't need to work, didn't want to work, had the requisite number of children and had nothing better to do with their spare time than to gossip about other people.

"Surely they know I'm getting married in July?"

"Of course, they do," Celia sniffed.

"Then, there you go. No need for them to gossip."

"Don't be so crass, Alice. Honestly, if that's what staying on at school has done to you, it's little wonder that parents don't want their girls to stay on for longer than necessary."

Deciding that it was better for all of them if she didn't respond to that, Alice lifted her textbook up again and tried to study.

Friday 23rd December 1977

12 Grimmauld Place, 23:30

Regulus tried to be silent when he returned but it turned out that there was no need as his parents were still up.

They were just sitting on the sofas in the Receiving Room. How long had they been waiting there for him?

"Master Regulus," Kreacher greeted, holding out his hand as Regulus automatically hand him his robe and mask.

He finally got his mask. It was so smooth and white and it was awesome. Not that he ever said that last thought out loud but still. He was really a part of the group now. It was exhilarating. At a little bit warm. Regulus could feel the sweat on his face and it wasn't exactly pleasant. Still, a small price to pay for what he had accomplished.

"How did it go?" Walburga asked eagerly.

"Very well."

His thoughts were buzzing in excitement at everything that had been discussed this evening. He was just in awe of the Dark Lord's intelligence and planning capabilities. And, to think, he, Regulus Black, was going to be a part of it.

"Well?" Walburga asked impatiently.

"You know he can't discuss such matters," Orion scolded.

Regulus beamed in pride at being entrusted with such plans. Yes, he had something that he had to be careful with discussing unless he was with appropriate people. He was one of those people!

"Don't get egotistical about this," Orion warned. "Egos make mistakes."

"I won't, father," Regulus reassured him.

He wouldn't let it swell his head. Even though he was doing what had to be the best thing ever. Oh, sure, he technically hadn't done anything yet but he will be. The Dark Lord said he had something in mind for the likes of him and his friends. He couldn't wait.

Sunday 25th December 1977

Potter Manor, 09:00

Sirius leaned backwards so he was resting against the sofa while he was still on the floor. This was the first time this morning that he could stop and just relax. Opening presents required you to be very energetic Sirius was finding the longer he stayed with the Potters.

This year he had almost got excited as them too. It was really fun to see how excited the Potters got about giving presents and being amazed at the ones they received. It was infectious. Hence, the rather energetic present opening on his part.

Though, he was still neater than all of them. Sirius looked at his pile of neatly opened wrapping paper, minimal tears in sight and the pieces all, well, in one piece. A direct contrast to the practically shredded paper of everyone else. He liked to be methodological about his present opening, okay? And it really was such a shame to rip up the paper.

'Smack'

Speaking of paper, a scrunched-up ball of it just hit the side of his head and landed on his lap. Sirius looked across the room to see an overly innocent look on Mr Potter's face (he still couldn't call them Fleamont and Euphemia). James let put a snort of laughter.

Shaking his head, Sirius looked back down at his broom servicing kit. It was a deluxe one.

"Monty!" Mrs Potter scolded, though there was laughter in her voice.

"I didn't do anything."

"So, the paper just got made into a ball by itself and threw itself at me, did it?"

"...Yes."

"Why you..."

Sirius looked up 9n time to see Mrs Potter send no fewer than a dozen scrunched up paper balls at her husband. She must have had them ready and waiting. James got caught by one of them which made him retaliate.

Of course, the Potters noticed that he hadn't thrown any and he ended up with four being thrown at him at once.

Sirius grabbed a sheet of his neatly folded paper and scrunched it up, eyes narrowing.

Oh, this meant war.

Wednesday 28th December 1977

McKinnon Farm, 14:00

Kevin poked his head through the back door. His eyes widened briefly in shock when he saw her.

"Oh, hi, Marly," he greeted in a far too casual tone. "Almost didn't see you there."

"I'm sitting at the table," she replied with a raised eyebrow.

Right in view of the door. Actually, it was only three feet from the door. You couldn't not see it.

"So, you are."

Marlene narrowed her eyes at him. Was he nervous? No, he couldn't be. Kevin didn't get nervous. He just didn't. He was probably constipated or something.

"Mum or dad about?"

"Da's out working. Like he normally is."

He was rarely home before it was dark in the winter, everyone knew that. Not that that was saying much as it got dark at four in the afternoon these days.

"And mum?" He prompted.

"What do you want her for?"

"I just want to talk to her."

And there was that nervous look again. He was even twisting his hands together. What could make him so nervous like that? Then the penny dropped for her.

"Oh, is this about the girl you've been seeing?" She asked hopefully.

Now that made her eldest brother gape at her. Ha, he looked like a frog.

"How do you-? What did you-? How?" He spluttered out.

Marlene just smirked at him.

"Ciaran." He guessed accurately. "You've been at Hogwarts so you're out but you two are always sneaking around. It was him, wasn't it."

"I'm telling you nothing."

"Whatever. Look I wanted to talk to mum. She said she'd be in this afternoon?"

"She's about. Though I think she shouted something about nipping down the road to see Grainne about something."

Kevin groaned. Probably for good reason. Their mother never nipped out for "Just a minute". Her best time had been forty minutes. Worst had been four hours.

""It was about twenty minutes ago," Marlene added, trying to sound encouraging.

"Great. So, it's going to be another hour or so?"

"You could go round to Grainne's house?"

"That gossip? As if."

"Mr Kevin, Mr Kevin," a small voice breathlessly said.

Now, that made Marlene stand up and go outside.

"Hey, wow, Little Miss," he said in a chiding voice, bending down.

When he stood back up again, his face was joined with a much smaller, rounder one, with her hair in pigtails. She was giggling and looking all around her in awe at this new perspective.

"I'm way up tall," she chirped.

Kevin smiled fondly at her, his eyes softening. "Yeah, you are."

Marlene coughed, getting both of their attention.

"That's a girl," the little girl pointed at her.

"That's my sister, Marlene."

"Marlene," she nodded quite seriously and stuck her little hand out, which, of course, Marlene had to take and got it vigorously shaken. "Nice to meet you, Miss Marlene."

"Nice to meet you-?" she looked expectantly at Kevin only for the girl to answer her.

"I'm Deirdre," she said proudly.

Marlene had to smile at her. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Deirdre."

"It is. I'm five."

"That's pretty old."

Deirdre nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I'm in school now."

"Oof, very old."

That earned her a giggle.

"What's Deirdre doing here, Kev?" Marlene asked.

"I'm with him," Deirdre informed her.

"You are," Kevin agreed, adjusting his hold on her slightly. "That's what I wanted to talk to mum about."

"Deidre, Deirdre," a woman's voice called. "You know better to go running off like that."

Deirdre giggled at the sound of the voice and buried her head into Kevin's neck. Marlene wasn't the biggest fan of kids but even she had to admit that that was cute.

A woman with blue, causal robes pulled over jeans and a t-shirt and a toddler in her arms appeared at the still open door.

"Kevin? Have you seen- Deirdre!"

"Uh, oh."

"Uh, oh indeed, Little Miss," she scolded. "You know better than to run off like that."

"I wanted Mr Kevin."

"I told you he'd come back for us."

"He was too slow," the little girl said stubbornly, lower lip coming out in a pout.

Marlene interrupted this little interlude with a cough. As funny as it was, she would rather like to be introduced to this woman.

"Oh, oh yeah," Kevin said. "Marlene, this is Oonagh O'Riley, she lives up over the hill and ..."

"Just Oonagh is fine, love," she interrupted.

"Yeah, Oonagh, and Oonagh, this is my youngest sibling and youngest sister, Marlene."

"Nice to meet you," they said together, exchanging handshakes.

"They were waiting down by the back gate," he explained.

"You were making them hide out there?" Marlene exclaimed.

"Not hide!"

She gave him a sceptical look. Making your girlfriend and her small children wait outside just so you could make sure the coast was clear sounded an awful lot like hiding to her.

"She was the one who wanted to make an entrance," Kevin muttered, waving his hand at Oonagh.

"I was," the young woman nodded. "Though I would describe it more like pulling a bandage off than making an entrance."

Okay, now Marlene was confused.

"We couldn't decide how to tell your parents," Oonagh explained, noticing her confusion. "So, we decided to just show up."

"And you thought that would go well?" Marlene asked sceptically.

"Well, it hasn't gone badly yet," Kevin pointed out.

"Because I'm the only one here, aren't I?"

Saturday 31st December 1977

Potter Manor, 19:00

"Prongs, I'm fine!" was the first thing she heard when she arrived.

Stepping out of the fireplace, quickly checking her dress (her new dress) for soot, she took in the scene in front of her.

There was James pushing Remus into a chair, or trying to, Remus very much not sitting in the chair and Sirius and Peter standing off to the side look far too amused by the whole situation.

Sirius caught her eye and gave her a wink, placing a finger to his lips. Obviously, he wanted to see how long James would take to realise she was here. He may be her boyfriend but if anything was wrong with any of the people, he cared for then they took priority. Even if he was a little overzealous at times.

"James, let me stand."

"You need to be resting!"

Ah, Lily suddenly twigged what was going on. Not that any of them knew that she knew but still. James was obviously trying to get Remus to rest up because the past few days he had most definitely not been. She knew it was all out of his control but that didn't mean that Remus shouldn't use his common sense and ease his way back into normal life.

"No, I don't! Oh, hi, Lily!" Remus greeted, his voice changing to a more pleasant tone as je greeted her.

"Lily?" James asked, turning around. "Lily!"

Before she even had time to react, James had bounded over to her and engulfed her into a hug.

The floo flashed again and Severus stepped out, without a speck of soot on him. How did he do it?

"Has Lily been allowed to breathe yet?" He asked, unnecessarily straightening his robes.

Her best friend looked very nice tonight with his robes of a deep midnight blue fabric. He splashed out a bit with his Potions earnings and got them. Definite a good choice.

"Snape!" Sirius said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Severus took a step back.

"Oh, no," he said warningly but it was too late.

Sirius pounced on him and gave him some semblance of a hug. If you counted an arm firmly around someone's neck a hug.

James' hug was definitely much nicer because, one, she could easily return it and two, she could snuggle into him. He pressed a kiss on her cheek for good measure.

"What have we said about mauling your friends, Jimmy?" the women asked in amusement. "And Sirius? Really? You too?"

"Jimmy?" Lily mouthed, making Sirius grin knowingly.

"You must be Lily, my dear," the woman greeted, turning to smile at her.

"Uh, yes, Lady Potter," Lily greeted nervously.

"Oh, none of that," Lady Potter said, waving her hand. "Mrs Potter is fine."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Potter."

"I feel like I know a lot about you already," the older woman said with the same charming smile as her son.

"Good things, I hope?" Lily replied with the inevitable cliche.

"Everything," Sirius piped up.

"Oh, hush, you," Mrs Potter said teasingly and then turned to Severus. "You must be Severus? The newcomer to this madness?"

"Yes, Mrs Potter," Severus replied, straightening up and his hands suddenly very still.

But Mrs Potter's smile could even put him at ease, amazingly.

"Well, it's always good to have more friends. Come, join the party, everyone."

Sunday 1st January 1978

Longbottom Manor, 08:00

Frank levitated the single suitcase that he was allowed out into the Receiving Room. He would be flooring straight to the Auror Academy from there in about five minutes. He had a time slot. And, sure, the suitcase wasn't that heavy but it was fun to levitate it.

"Oh, Frank, I'm really not sure this is a good idea." Augusta fretted.

His parents, of course, were seeing him off.

"I'll be fine, mother," Frank tried to reassure her.

"Are you sure you can't back out? No one will hold it against you, I'm sure."

Well, that wasn't exactly very reassuring, was it? Frank shook his head.

"I've signed a contract, mother. And I don't want to back out. I want to do this."

Augusta sighed but nodded.

"I know, Frankie. I just worry about you, you know."

Frank knew it took a lot of his mother do admit that and knew it wouldn't help if he gave her a hug.

"I do know and I'm grateful for it," he told her instead.

That got him a smile. Good. He didn't want to leave on a low note. This was supposed to be exciting! It was a good thing!

"Well, you better write. Every week."

"I will," he promised, glancing anxiously at the fireplace.

He really did have to go. It wouldn't do to be late.

His father's hand gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Good luck, son."

"Thank you."

"Do you have to be so early?" Augusta fretted. "Couldn't you have gone in the afternoon? Surely you won't be doing much on your first day."

She didn't know that. And neither did he. Which is why be had to go.

"Augusta, you can't stop him from leaving."

"No, of course not. Goodbye, Frank."

"Bye, mother. Bye, father."

Before anyone could say anything else, Frank threw a handful of floo powder into the fire and he was off!

Evans' Home, 11:00

"Oof!"

Lily woke up to her sister quite literally on top of her.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" Chryssie said, her grin filling Lily's vision.

"Because of you," Lily groaned, rolling over and trying to bury her head back into her pillow.

There was no way that it was time to wake up. It didn't feel like she had anywhere near enough sleep.

"What time did you come home at last night? Or should that be the morning?"

Why so many questions? It was too early for questions. But Chryssie wasn't going to leave without answers.

"About one, half one."

James and his parents had offered her and Severus rooms to stay the night in but they had refused. It would have been a bit too weird for Lily - sleeping over at her boyfriend of just about two months house. So, she and Severus had come home and Lily didn't know about him but she had had just enough energy to peel off her dress before falling into bed. She didn't even put any pyjamas on, she'd fallen asleep in her bra and knickers!

"Was it fun?"

Lily thought back over the night; rendering the dancing and the laughing and the spinning and the kiss.

Chryssie gave her a knowing look. "Actually, you don't have to answer that. I can tell by your face."

"Oh, it was perfect."

"Well," Chryssie folded her legs under her and looked at Lily expectantly. "Tell me everything."