AN: Hello :) As usual, thank you for your continued support! Please read the AN at the bottom.

…

It had been three months since the day Lily Evans had entered into James' life. She and her friend, Marlene had taken to life at the Manor very well. Lily did everything to perfection. Every morning he would be served breakfast at 8 am sharp, just before leaving to go to the ministry. When he returned, more often than not with Sirius, it was always to a warm dinner. Strangely this routine made him realise how much his life had improved. Their conversations were superficial but pleasant. He often told her about his work colleagues and she often told him about her days at Hogwarts. She was only two years his Juniour, how Remus had managed to befriend her and he hadn't during school was an enigma to him. But then again, James and Sirius were both rather idiotic in school, maybe her not knowing him at that stage of his life was better for both!

James would often find himself simply smiling and listening to her voice ramble on animatedly about some potion or magical remedy. It was quite refreshing to hear her gentle, calm voice instead of the Auror office's depressing and harsh tone. He found Lily's work pattern quite endearing. She would constantly fuss over the cleanliness of his room. He never actually asked her to put his shoes away or to make his bed or to dust the table, but she did anyway. Sometime if she didn't know he was there, James would catch her humming. He personally thought her voice to be beautiful and simply stood their listening.

He was hoping that soon he would be able to bring Lily with him to the ministry to act as a personal assistant. She was intelligent enough for the task, after all, she had achieved 11 Outstanding grades in her O. . Had she been allowed by her previous owner to finish her education at Hogwarts, James was sure that she would have received top grades in her N.E. as well. It was a shame that such an incredible brain was going to waste as a servant. He often wondered what exactly Lucius Malfoy had made her do because whenever her said previous master was mentioned, Lily became distant and closed off. It frustrated James but he couldn't very well force her into talking!

James often complained about this to Sirius, who in turn would just smirk. If Remus was around he would tell James to back off and give the girl some space. The ease with Remus conversed with Lily got James frequently irritated. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she talk so freely and easily with him? The other thing that James appreciated about Lily was her compassion. She had startled him once by asking to borrow an owl to send a letter. He was slightly puzzled about who she could be writing to but let her use one of the manor's official owls. It was a week later when Ludo Bagman's owl returned that James realised that Lily had written to her previous house mates. She had a caring personality, despite the toils of her life.

…

James was sitting in his room as the other two occupants carried on with their conversation, utterly oblivious to his mere existence.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that, Remus! It never even crossed my mind. But now you say it, I think Ludo was in fact on a search for boggarts!" Lily's voice was full of enthusiasm and her partner in conversation replied with just as much zest.

"I can imagine his place being full of those creatures. Did you know they merely feed of the emotion of fear?"

"Oh?" Lily answered as Remus nodded and proceeded to explain. "They are not and never were alive. Even if you destroy one, another will take its place and another after that,"

"And you reckon there will be many in the manor?" she asked eagerly, for Remus had promised to show her how to deal with multiple boggarts at the same time.

"Oh yes, plenty," James finally cut in, causing both Remus and Lily to look guiltily at him. He raised an eyebrow and smirked as he spoke again. "Oh please, don't stop on my account. Do carry on with your conversation. I'll just wait and wither here until you're done." Remus rolled his eyes at Lily and said 'don't be ridiculous, Mr. Potter,"

"You can join the boggart hunt with us, if you want," she added mischievously and winked at Remus.

"Well maybe not a boggart hunt. I've got plenty of dark wizard hunts to organise and supervise." James sighed and Remus took this as his cue to leave. He bid them both a good day, not wishing to hear another recent tragedy about muggle families being found dead in their homes.

"Do you often go on missions?" Lily asked, suddenly shy now that Remus had left. Internally James groaned, why did she want to talk to him about work? "Uh, not that often. Thank fully the minor raids are sorted out by the trainees and the juniours and there haven't been any major issues recently." He eyed her curiously. She was very obviously still extremely curious. "Why don't you come in, have a look for yourself and see what we Aurors get up to."

"Really?" she asked.

James shrugged. "Why not. It would be a good change as well. Perhaps Sirius will persuade Marlene to come as well. We can make it a field day." Lily's eyes were shining.

"I'd like that very much." James nodded. "Then its settled. I'll let you know of a day when we can take you." Lily thanked him once more before taking her leave and rushing back to the kitchen to find Marlene and share the news.

"The Ministry?" Freya squealed, dropping her rolling pin, even before Marlene could respond to Lily's rushed explanation. "None of us have ever been in there," Salt and Pepper lady told Lily and Marlene from across the table to where Marlene and a few other girls were preparing the evening meal.

"What's special about it?" Marlene asked, genuinely lost. Some girls giggled and Freya gave a dramatic gasp. Salt and Pepper just laughed.

"Don't you know? Only the most important people or criminals go into the ministry!" Freya exclaimed. "You can't be that important yet so you must have done a crime!" she added, looking at them both with fearful eyes. Marlene looked alarmed and since Lily didn't even get a chance to explain, Marlene just got more confused. "A crime? But I've done everything required of me!" she said worried.

Freya was shaking her head, the bread dough completely forgotten. "You must have messed up somehow…" she began in a grim and dreadful voice. Even Lily started to believe her a little. "Offended them somehow…you'll have to be extra watchful now!"

"Freya! What nonsense are you telling 'em now, eh?" the fat lady spoke in a reprimanding tone. Freya turned to the fat maid and frowned.

"You're always having a go at me, Tess," Freya responded, sounding childish.

"We've been invited to go to the ministry, Tess," Lily informed the fat woman.

"And Freya here has been telling the two how only important people or criminals go there!" Salt and Pepper said smirking at the young and blushing Freya.

Tess threw back her head and laughed. In fact she continued laughing for a few minutes and was dangerously rocking back and forth on her heels. Marlene quickly got her a chair to sit in, before she fell to the ground. "What utter tosh," Tess spluttered in between her laughs. The girls stood around Tess as she continued to laugh, some amused and others laughing along. Marlene and Lily, were also smiling. Hearing the unusually loud noise and laughter, Libby came to see what was going on. Thus the story of Freya's silliness and Lily's invitation to the ministry was retold one more time. By the end, Libby looked mildly amused but more over she looked rather surprised. "Well that is certainly a feat. I can't imagine many of us getting in there that frequently," were her parting words as she left to carry on with her own work. "Freya, what did Libby mean?" Marlene asked. Freya's eyes widened and she spoke so quietly that Lily and Marlene both had to lean in. "Muggleborns. She means those who don't have pure magical blood are rarely seen inside."

"Well, about time it changed, then," Lily said vehemently, also whispering. Both Freya and Marlene smiled at Lily's words and the younger maid added in equal passion, "precisely." Their momentary rebellious words and the associated feeling of liberation was short lived as Madam Danvers chose that exact moment to come into the kitchens and begin her daily rants. Marlene, Lily and Freya rolled their eyes and continued on with the various meal preparations.

Madam Danvers droned on and on in her prim English accent. The upmost floor's corridors were flooding again and the guest bedrooms still needed the linen changing. The food that was sent to the security guards outside had too much salt. At this Libby glared at Freya's corner, knowing full well that the young maid had purposely added too much just to spite the universally hated pompous guards. Madam Danvers proceeded to then single out individuals and remind them of their shortcomings. All in all it was never a particularly pleasant experience whenever Madam Danvers chose to arrive into the kitchens. She was just getting to where Lily and Marlene were peeling garlic and onions when a soft knock was heard on the heavy wooden door.

Girls looked up and around in confusion. All the kitchen maids were inside, and all the other maids were on duty, so who could be knocking. Libby who was at the end of the long kitchen island hissed at a tall girl named Tara: "Well go on, see to the door!" Tara quickly opened the door and stepped aside as a middle-aged woman stepped gracefully inside.

The woman was wearing flowing purple robes and on top, a thick cloak of dark burgundy, velvet, which clasped with a silver buckle at her throat. It was the middle of summer and yet the woman's rather warm clothes didn't seem to bother her at all. She must have cast a cooling charm on her clothes to allow her a choice all year round. Her hair was dark brown, done up the same way as Madam Danvers but not as tight and she had hazel coloured eyes, with which she studied the room until she found Madam Danvers. Her smile was radiant and full of warmth. When she opened her mouth to speak it was with impeccable politeness. Her demeanour was such a far cry from what Lily had expected it to be that the only give away to the woman's status and authority was how all the other girls were responding to the woman's presence. As all around her girls bowed and Libby stepped up with Madam Danvers, Lily with a sudden start realised that this was her first proper glimpse of James' mother. This was the lady of the house, Mrs Evangeline Potter who rarely was seen outside of her own floor.

"M'lady why did you trouble yourself with coming down? You should have sent a house elf," Libby spoke in genuine concern.

"You are very considerate, Libby," Evangeline smiled gently at the girl and carried on, "but I wanted to personally make this announcement." She eyed the various maids as she once more opened her mouth. "As you know, we have amongst us two new members to the clan," at this most people turned to look at Lily and Marlene. Both girls, embarrassed at the attention started to turn red. Lily actively avoided Mrs Potter's eyes, whose eyes for one brief second twinkled just as her troublemaker teenage son's used to.

"And in honour of welcoming these special additions, the Potter family is holding a dinner to not only introduce the girls to the society but also introduce society to our girls." Evangeline finished speaking and cast another look around. Salt and Pepper was poking Lily and Marlene in the back, rather painfully. "Say Thank you, muppets!" she hissed. Startled, both Marlene and Lily stammered out a 'Thank you,' causing Evangeline's attention to return to them.

"It will be a splendid evening, I am sure. Madam Danvers," she then said, turning her head back to the housekeeper.

"Yes, ma'am," was the reply.

"We will need to discuss with Libby and yourself and of course Mr Potter about guests and the menu. I will arrange a discussion for this evening. I think we can settle the date for two weeks from today,"

"Very good, ma'am," Madam Danvers said. Evangeline nodded and turned to leave the kitchen. She was out of the door and everyone was back to their work when once again she spoke. "And, if I can have a quick word with Lily?"

Lily shaking at the prospect of speaking alone to the woman, walked carefully over and whilst Freya and Marlene smiled encouragingly at her, it did nothing to the beasts of butterflies suddenly erupting in her stomach. Evangeline, unaware of the girl's inner feelings, smiled serenely at her as she took Lily up to her own personal room.

Mrs Potter's room was the biggest bedroom Lily had ever been in. The large double bed, complete with beautifully embroidered covers stood proudly in the centre. The bay windows to the left, were draped with red and gold curtains. Mrs. Potter's dressing was on the right, one that would make even Lily, who abhorred the idea of prettying oneself up for men's pleasure, jealous. She currently stood awkwardly opposite the bed as Mrs Potter sighed and removed her cloak. She loosened her hair and Lily was shocked. She had always been told that pureblood women always had their hair up, it was just their culture. Finally Mrs Potter turned around and seeing Lily still standing she immediately told her to take a seat. It was only then that Lily noticed that she was in fact standing in front of a pair of purple velvet chairs. Lily, at Mrs Potter's request, sat down gingerly, and a moment later, Mrs. Potter joined her.

"Some tea?" she asked, clicking her fingers to call a house-elf.

"Don't want to trouble you," Lily said quietly, clasping her hands together to stop the nails digging into her palm. Evangeline laughed softly. "Two cups of tea, please Twinky," she said to the house elf who bowed its large head and vanished.

"How are you finding your work? Not too arduous? My son hasn't been bossing you around too much?" she asked as they waited for the tea. Lily, was sure that this was some sort of test and answered cautiously, ensuring none of her words could come back to bite her.

"Everything is just fine, ma'am," she spoke. Evangeline raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when Twinky returned with cups of teas and a platter of biscuits. "Please, do help yourself. The pumpkin creams are my personal favourites,"

"The tea is quite enough, ma'am," Lily responded and made to sip the hot tea.

"Lily, please. Evangeline is the name I was given and it should be the name that you use. I am not your master, James is." She sounded very sincere and extremely serious. Lily swallowed the hot drink and it burnt its way down her throat but she didn't notice. She had just been given permission by a pureblood witch, and not just any pureblood witch, to call her by her first name.

"I…yes ma…I mean, yes, if that is your wish, Evangeline." Evangeline smiled and both women drank their teas.

"Forgive me for sounding forward," Lily began hesistantly and continued at Evangeline's encouraging hand gesture.

"You aren't how I imagined a society woman to be," and she promptly looked into her tea, horrified she even thought this question, let alone voiced it. Damn her inability to hold her tongue in check!

"Arrogant, ignorant, snobby and rude?" Evangeline said casually. The tips of Lily's ears were bright red and Evangeline chuckled, reminding Lily, of James. "No, I never fancied those qualities in myself, really."

"And," Evangeline leaned forward and spoke in a conspiring voice. "If you do come across those women, let me know, I'll set one of James' old pranks on them," and then she actually winked at Lily. The girl couldn't help but smile widely at such unorthodox behaviour. After that it took Lily only moments to talk freely with Evangeline. Like her son, the mother had the special gift of making one feel absolutely at ease. The topic of conversation went to various places, finally ending on favourite novels.

"You must get James to show you the library. It does have some spectacular reads," Evangeline spoke, setting her cup down.

"I will, and I must take my leave now, but thank you ever so much for the tea and for the talk."

"Not at all, dear. Do come again, and bring your friend too. It is nice to have a conversation with a fellow intelligent female, once in a while,"

Lily smiled at the compliment and left the room feeling extremely content. It seemed, Evangeline Potter, really had just wanted a cup of tea with and a talk. She supposed not all Purebloods could be painted with the same brush of disdain. It didn't occur to her that she had been judging Mrs Potter based on her society and blood lines, just the way most people judged Lily herself.

…

James hardly ventured to this part of the manor. It wasn't that he thought himself superior, just that he never needed to. Lily was always up and about earlier than himself. Often he wondered what it was that he did so early in the morning but thought it too impudent and invading to ask. It wasn't as her early rise and apparent late nights affected her work. They had finally managed to push past the unnecessary title calling. Of course when guests or his parents were around, she still referred to him as 'sir' but in front of his friends it was most definitely Mr. Potter. He found himself looking forward to the day she uttered his first name.

Suddenly he found himself in front of the locked door to his servant. From inside he could hear her melodious voice as she hummed to a tune. He listened eagerly, almost greedily, enjoying the notes that drifted to his ears but as he listened more a strange unsettling feeling overcame him. He recognized this tune. It was a distant memory and he couldn't quite place where he had heard it. But unlike memories that makes one smile, this particular tune made him feel a strange desperation, a sensation he was utterly estranged by. And he felt a little sick. With a frown decorating his face, he turned back round and in a daze walked back to the main part of the manor.

…

AN: This seems like a good point to introduce some dates and some ages. Please bare in mind that this is an AU, some characters will be fiddled around with.

Start of Chapter 1:

Date is 4th May 1978.

Lily and Marlene are both 18. Lily's birthdate is the same as canon (Jan 1960) Had they been in Hogwarts, this would be there final few months at the school as they would be in their seventh and final year.

Sirius and James are both 20. James turned 20 sometime in March and is therefore two years the senior of the girls. Peter and Remus are the same age as James and Sirius.

At the start of Chapter 6 (this chapter) the date is 4th August 1978.

What did you think of this chapter? If there are any questions, please feel free to ask! And finally, please review. See you next time!

-Vitzy-