Disclaimer: Sad, I know, but I'm not J.K. Rowling. I don't own anything. cries

Chapter 5: Jeeze Louise, Keep Your Clothes On!
"That was you!" she stepped back and screwed up her face in disgust. She screamed and then, surprisingly, slapped Snape. In a fury of rage, she stomped up the stairs and went to her room. She closed the door, sunk down and sobbed for unexplained reasons.

"What's the matter, Lilybell?"

"James?" She jumped to her feet and ran to her real Romeo. He swung her around and pulled her into a fiery kiss. James loved this because her lips always tasted as sweet as cotton candy. Then, they both sat down on the creaky floral bed and talked about their two day adventure away from each other. Lily had learned that Sirius's parents were cross with him and were planning on disowning him. James learned that Petunia was jealous of Lily and her mom isn't that fond of him.

"So is Sirius at your house already?"

"No, he's downstairs, having a pint of fire whiskey he mooched off Tom,"

"Did you want to go down and visit him?"

"Alright, I think Snivellus left, so your safe," Lily laughed and they went down to see a possibly drunk Sirius. To their surprise, he was comparing notes with someone about the new Minister of Magic election.

"I really don't agree with the winner,"

"Why not? Cornelius Fudge will do this society some good." The cloaked man said. He looked up and saw Lily and James coming towards them.

"So, Sirius, you haven't introduced us to your friend," James noted.

"Oh, right! This is Lily Potter and James Evans… Whoops, I mean James Potter and Lily Evans. Lily and James, this is Thomas."

"Well, hello," Thomas said. "Are you two good friends of Dumbledore's?"

"Oh, yes! He's one of our closest friends!"

"That's great. Well, I must be leaving. I have some business to attend to."

"Happy Christmas!" Sirius waved, and then fell off his stool.

"All right, I think it's time for you to say 'good bye' to your fire whiskey,"

"Farewell, my love!" the drunk cried. They hauled him up to Room 15 where he and James were staying. The only sound made was the creaking of the old stairs and Sirius's muffled giggles. Lily figured that maybe, they might be going to James's house tomorrow so she said her goodnights and retired to her bed.

Lily ran carrying Harry with her. The door burst open and there was a cloaked man. She spread her arms wide open, just hoping it would spare her child. There was a bright green light and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Lily woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. It was seven o'clock, perfect timing. She put on her slippers and went to James and Sirius's room. She walked in, only to see that they were both still sleeping. She quickly spun on her heel and left the room. She crossed the hall, to her room and began repacking her things a little more neatly, as before when they were packed; they were hastily shoved into her trunk. Lily kept reliving her deadly dream. Was that a connection from her last dream? Was James having the same dream? She shook it off as she latched the red trunk shut and changed into her clothes for the day, a plaid red shirt, which really belonged to James, and a pair of jeans. She head the door creak open and James was standing in socks and a pair of Wimbourne Wasps boxers.

"Oh! You're up! I was in there about ten minutes ago and you were still in dreamland!" The "dreamland" part made Lily shiver.

"Well, we'll be heading off to Burney, so be prepared,"

"For what?" she asked curiously.

"Butt-numbing boredom," Lily laughed and admired James, who was casually leaning in the doorway.

"What are you staring at? Is it my hair? I've been meaning to fix that." He panicked, flattening his hair.

"Don't fix it. I like it like that." She said, putting her arms around him. "Now, go put some clothes on, the maids are staring." Sure enough, James looked to see the young maids, pointing and giggling.

"Yes, ma'm!" he said, saluting Lily and marching into his room. She poked his sides, making him jump and slip into his room even faster. An hour had passed and finally, they were ready to head off to Burney. Checking out, they caught a taxi to King's Cross Station. They bought tickets that took them directly there with out any stop overs. After two hours, Lily had already fallen asleep on James's lap, enveloped in his sweet smelling scent.

"I really need to get my own place,"

"Why? You're only sixteen. You've got your parents and you've got me."

"No, just you,"

"What do you mean?"

"I ran away. I chose no longer to be a part of the Black family."

"Sirius? Why? Are you mentally ill?"

"If they tried to make you a death eater, you'd probably run away too! They kept trying to make me obey Lord Voldemort and everything."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'll stay with you for my two weeks and then I'll find myself a nice place. Dumbledore told me of an apartment building run and owned by a crazy old wizard. He lets students stay the summer and stops charging rent when your term starts."

"Well, that's great, I guess." Then, his voice lowered to a scratchy, barely audible whisper. "Speaking of houses, I'm planning on asking Lily to marry me at the end of the school year next year. We'll go out for supper in London and then, well, you know."

"That's great! But you'll have to keep it a secret until then, you know. We both know you aren't a great secret keeper."

"I know. I will, I swear. I've already actually bought a place."

"What! What if she says no?"

"Then you and I shall live there as the most eligible bachelors of all time!" Then, as if the train knew James was finished, it came to a screeching halt. James gave Lily a small nudge as she jerked awake.

"Harry," she said.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Are we in Burney?"

"Sure are. My parents are meeting us at Platform sixteen."

"Great!" After many moving bags and the slow shuffles of sleepy-eyed passengers, they were off the train and coming within sight of Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Mr. Potter was tall and lanky with glasses and blonde hair that stuck in all directions like James's. Mrs. Potter was built the same way but she had bright, steel blue eyes and dark, wavy black hair. James and Sirius hugged them heartily as Lily stood off in the background, staring at her feet, and feeling a bit out of place.

"Mum, dad, this is Lily Evans. She'll be staying with us all summer."

"Well, hello. We've heard so much about you. I hope you've been taking care of our James,"

"Only helping him look after himself,"

"Oh! She has bite!"

"That's my Lily." James said, putting his arm around her.

"Well, we should get going to the manor. Chippy is making supper."

"Chippy?" Lily asked, very puzzled.

"Chippy is our house elf. Mrs. Potter isn't fond of house elf labor so she pays him a galleon a day." Sirius informed her.

"Sirius, do you pay your house elf?" James asked.

"Kreacher? Oh he's too wacko to even listen to me. He called me a 'blood traitor' the other day. I nearly kicked him out of the room."

"Welcome to the Potter manor." James announced. Lily stared in amazement as they drove through the wrought iron gates and up a hill to the mansion. They stepped inside with their entire luggage.

"Don't want any bugs flying in your mouth, do you?" Sirius whispered. Then, Lily realized that her mouth was hanging open. She closed it quickly and followed James up to where she was staying. When he left to go talk to Sirius, Lily flopped down on the bed and kicked her legs in excitement and enjoyment. Then, she turned over and took in the sweet smell of lilacs that had settled in the cashmere pillows. She sat up and looked at the room around her. There were candles everywhere, along with a wardrobe, pictures of other wizards on the walls and a nightstand complete with lamp and alarm clock. She decided not to unpack just yet, seeing as that was all she was ever doing these days. James poked his head in.

"Dinner's ready, Lilybell."

"All right," she said, flying off the bed and landing soundlessly beside James. He gave a hearty laugh and they walked down to dinner, together.

Woot for comments! I love comments.

Comedy gal: Yes, strange, I know. Hopefully, it will get less mysterious. Here's your update!

Betsy: I know! Isn't Snape just gross! Thanks for reading! I'm watching you, too! (but not really)

Thanks for the comments guys and I really do hope that I get more in the future.

Annabelle Deveraux