A/N: Okay, thanks a ton for those sweet reviews, they were so…well…sweet. To those who added me to their favorites, thanks a ton, love you guys (Robyn!). So, let's get a move on because I am sure you guys are dying to know what the surprise was.

"Mum, what are the freaks doing here!" screamed Petunia form upstairs. Lily, Tanya, and Claire all rolled their eyes. They were used to Petunia being like that.

"They're staying for the holidays, Petunia, dear," called Miss Pat. They heard a roar of frustration and a door slam somewhere upstairs and knew automatically that Petunia didn't know about this plan.

"Sorry bout her," said Mr. Evans, turning the corner and coming out of the kitchen. Lily got her eyes from Mr. Evans, or Mr. Scott as they called him. He was tall, slightly balding on top of his head, but where he had hair, it was brown. He was slightly plump around the middle, but what middle-aged man usually wasn't, especially with Miss Pat's cooking.

"Hey, Mr. Scott, how've you been?" asked Claire, a smile creasing her dry lips.

"Very well, Claire, how about yourself?" asked Mr. Scott. He was an English teacher at a muggle high school, so he always spoke properly.

"Pretty, good…I mean well," she recovered, seeing Mr. Scott start to roll his eyes.

"That's always nice to hear. Well, ladies, dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes if you wish to go and unpack. We've got the huge upstairs living room all set up for you. Oh, Tanya, how are you?" he asked, seeing Tanya move from behind Lily.

"I'm great Mr. Scott. Thanks a tone for letting us stay here, it's really nice of you," she said, picking up her trunk. Moonstone finally appeared to Lily's parents by jumping into Lily's arms.

"Lils, where did you get a cat?" asked Miss Pat, eyeing it suspiciously.

"It was a gift," laughed Lily, mostly at the fact of how non-observational her parents were. Lily's mother narrowed her eyes into little slits.

"From that boy?" she asked, raising one eyebrow, the grin never leaving her face. Lily nodded, blush coloring her cheeks incredibly fast.

"What boy?" asked Mr. Scott loudly.

"James Potter," said Miss Pat, turning to her husband. Mr. Scott let out a laugh so loud that they heard a door creak upstairs and knew Petunia had opened it to see what was going on.

"Dad, please," pleaded Lily.

"Sorry, Lils, we just knew it would happen eventually if he kept asking you," said her father. Lily rolled her eyes and dropped the cat, which, of course, landed on her feet. Lily picked up her trunk and lugged it up the stairs, Claire and Tanya following, trailed by Moonstone. They heard the door slam shut again and knew Petunia didn't want to be caught dead near Lily or her "freaky friends" as she called them.

"Petunia, Claire really wants to say hi to you," called Lily, biting back her laughter. Lily, Claire, Tanya, and Petunia never forgot the time that Claire accidentally used magic and Petunia found herself in a horrible predicament. Ever since then, Petunia didn't just hate Claire, she was afraid of her. See, Petunia ended up with her hair on fire, and it took about thirty full seconds for them to put it out. Of course, this was back when they were unpracticed and in the term between second and third year. Claire would never do something like that again. By now, Petunia's hair was almost to her shoulders. When they reached the upstairs living room, there were three sleeping bags, all with the heads meeting at the middle. Lily sat down on hers and was relieved to find that it was incredibly squashy and comfy. She dropped her trunk and the cat leapt onto it, her tail swishing again, the green eyes following every movement.

"So," began Claire, taking off her large hoodie so she could cool herself off in just a thin, long-sleeved pink shirt. "What do you think these surprise Christmas plans are?"

"Don't know. You guys know my parents, my mum loves surprises, but my dad, well, you know him," answered Lily. Her father was a grounded person and so he rarely ever traveled or went on vacation. Lily walked to her room to see if she had any mail, and she wasn't expecting what she saw.

When Lily was at school, all of her post was left on her bed for her when she came back during breaks and holidays. No one ever sent mail by owl to her while she was at school because everyone she knew was at school with her. There, on her windowsill was a large, brown barn owl with a letter in its beak. Lily petted its feathers and took the mail from it.

Lily,

Just wanted to see if you got home safe and sound. Remus and Sirius say hi to everyone. Just want you to know I love you and I miss you more than anything in the world. I can't really divulge where we're going for this little vacation because my parents refuse to tell me anything, insisting that it's a surprise. How cruel of them, huh? Mail me back as soon as you can because I told the bird not to leave until he got a reply from you, haha.

James

Lily read the letter a few times and then walked back into the living room, handing the letter to her friends to read.

"Weird, huh? The fact that our parents are so secretive and alike in that sense," she said softly, the owl fluttering in behind her, looking around expectantly.

"What's with the owl?" asked Claire after handing the letter back to Lily.

"James told it to stay until I sent a reply back," said Lily, sitting down on her sleeping bag.

"DINNER!" called Miss Pat from downstairs. Petunia opened her door and looked around, her brown hair and horsy face protruding from it. As soon as she saw the owl she gave a shriek, seeming to forget Claire was in the room.

"What is that thing doing here?" she screamed.

"I got a letter, calm down or you might blow a blood vessel, gosh little sis," said Lily with a laugh.

"Who would write a letter to a freak like you?" asked Petunia, grabbing it from Lily's hand and reading it, her eyes growing so wide that they rivaled that of an ostrich. "Mum and dad are going to be so mad when they hear that you've got a boyfriend…and that he loves you, haha!" she shrieked with laughter. Lily grabbed the letter from her hand and shrugged.

"Go ahead, they already know I have a boyfriend, whatever, tell them, I don't care," shrugged Lily. Petunia turned around, letting out a frustrated snort and stomping down the stairs to the kitchen. Lily, Claire, and Tanya all got up, laughing so hard, and walked down the steps, much more quietly. They sat down to the table, the warm aroma of spaghetti entering their noses. It was mouthwatering. They all served themselves and then said grace. As the three witches dug into their food, Mr. and Mrs. Evans began to speak.

"So, as for that surprise…I know you girls really wanted a bit of fun alone this winter, and so, we decided to…" began Miss Pat, looking at her husband. "We decided to book you three a nice little cruise getaway around the isles area, and it'll be two weeks, just for your type of people and you will love it. It has spas and dancing and everything you can imagine," finished Miss Pat. The food in Lily's mouth fell back to the plate. Claire dropped her fork and Tanya shook her head as though she just received some great, amazing shock.

"Mum, Dad, that's so awesome," said Lily, finding it difficult not to leap across the table and hug her parents.

"We thought you'd like it, Lils. The boat leaves tomorrow morning at about seven AM, but it takes about an hour to get there, so we'll have to wake you around…five," said her father. Lily groaned, she was not a morning person. Tanya was though, with a glow like hers, she was an any time of day person. She didn't care. Claire just widened her eyes, shrugged, and got back to her food. They were surprised that Petunia hadn't made protest yet. They looked to her, her mouth hanging open, the fork limp in her hands, her eyes like ostrich's again.

"Petunia, dear, what's the matter?" asked Miss Pat.

"You're sending them on a cruise?" she asked, her eyes narrowing into slits as she pointed to the three girls with her fork.

"Yes, dear, and you're allowed to go with them if you want to," said Miss Pat.

"A cruise…a cruise with a bunch of freaks on it? Why would I want to do that. I'm happy about this, I don't have to be around them for most of the time, thanks Mum, thanks Dad." Lily rolled her eyes again and thought o James, how would her get mail to her if she was on a cruise. It was a magical cruise, so it was possible that it might have some way of communication to the rest of the wizarding world.

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They woke up the next morning, Tanya perfectly fine, Claire and Lily practically dead on their feet. After showering, dressing, drying their hair, and brushing their teeth, the slumped down the stairs tiredly, well, two of them at least, and climbed into their Miss Pat's car. Lily kissed her father on the cheek as they drove off. The car was silent, seeing as half of the occupants were asleep within ten minutes and Miss Pat didn't talk when she drove.

They got to the seaport at about six thirty and Lily kissed her mother goodbye and Miss Pat hugged all of the girls in turn before they climbed the stairs, pulling their trunks along. They flashed their tickets to the admissions man and he nodded. They climbed aboard and looked around. It was a beautiful ship. It was painted a white, but it had a slight blue tint and there were sparking golden stars glistening on the paint. The ship was apparently called the Silver Arrow, a popular broom at the time. The three girls traveled below deck to find their cabin, holding only third class tickets because Lily's mother and father weren't the richest people in the world. They found their cabin and pushed open the door. There was a bunk bed and one single.

"I call the single," shouted Lily, throwing her stuff onto it as a claim.

"I want top bunk then," shouted Claire.

"Fine, I hate top," conceded Tanya. "Sounds like this works out perfectly." They dropped their stuff off in the room and went back upstairs to explore the deck of the ship. The floor was perfect, hardwood flooring with a glassy shine. There were people walking around on the deck as well, tipping their hats to everyone they met. Lily guessed it was the first-class people. Lily looked up at the sky as the ship began to leave the harbor and saw the mermaids leaping around in front of the bow. They were giggling loud, shrieking giggles that carried for miles. Claire and Tanya came up next to her and placed their elbows on the wall of the ship, looking out over the water.

"You miss your guy too, then?" Claire asked the two of them.

"Well," said Lily, turning around and leaning against the wall. "That's a pretty stupid question, all things considered." They laughed and decided to explore more. They found the ballroom quickly and it was filled with people talking animatedly about the upcoming journey. Lily could tell by their robes that her mother was right, definitely a cruise for only witches and wizards. It was also very clear that the ballroom was occupied by only first-class occupants at the time. She noticed no one she recognized except for the sneering Lucius Malfoy and his girlfriend Narcissa Black, Sirius's cousin, among the crowd. Narcissa was wearing emerald green dress robes and had her hair pulled into a bun with a few curls escaping down her back. Lucius was wearing purple dress robes that were regal looking, but also slightly…well, funny looking. They began to exit when they heard a familiar voice call from behind them.

"Lily?"

A/N: Haha, my evil powers of keeping people on the edge of their seats is working once more with another cliffhanger, haha! So, read, review, etc, you know I love you guys. Oh, and the next chapter will be out before the end of Sunday so that you won't have to wait the entire week for an update.