Hello again! I know it's been much longer since my last update. Two weeks to the day I think, but year 12 has begun, and the end of the road for musical is here, aka I've had rehearsal almost every day and ontop of that I have school work. After this next week, when musical is over, then I'll be able to write more frequently. Hope you guys understand, but when summer holidays roll around it's gonna be update after update!

Also I've looked at poll results and three people have voted, and the majority have voted in favour of including 6th year. So I think I'll be including 6th year if no one objects else objects. Place your vote by next week so I can plan in more detail.

Thank you for the reviews and readings!

Always, Eleanor x - PS You may get a hint of the whole Songbird theme beginning in this chapter.

'You'll be pleased to know, Lily, that I will no longer be troubling you.'

There was an unendurable sadness mixed with a coldness Lily was not familiar with. If she didn't know any better, she would say that this person, sitting opposite her in the horseless carriage, was not James Potter.

Lily looked into his hazel eyes, but they were closed off. Lily feeling herself being pushed back, though James had not moved in the slightest. He was plainly saying 'Don'tyoudare'.

Did he realise how much time he had wasted in chasing me? Mused Lily. Did he realise I wasn't going to become a member of his lengthy conquests list?

Lily could think of nothing else to say, but in a fit of victory, pushed out 'Well thank Merlin for that!' She sighed in relief, 'you finally learnt what "No, Potter" means?'

Thunder rumbled overhead, rattling the carriage as it pushed along the dirt path. James' eyes flickered in anger and exasperation. He could not believe what he was hearing.

'You don't get it do you?' He pointed at her, and Lily pushed back into her seat, jerking away from his touch. James only looked more enraged by this, and could there possibly be a hint of disgust in his face?

'You think I'm just chasing you for the fun of it?'

Lily's mouth gaped in shock, Potter had never spoken to her like that before. This side of James was driving her mad. She didn't know how to act around him, the old James was easy, just scream at him. This James, she had to be more careful.

He was like a ticking time bomb, Lily didn't know when her time was up.

'What I think, is that you've finally realised that life isn't like one giant Quidditch match!' Her voice picked up, no longer being drowned by the sound of the thunder which continued to roll around, lightning flashing and casting an ominous glow inside the darkened carriage.

'I'm not the Golden Snitch and youcan't catch me!'

James looked horrified, much like he had the day before, when Lily had accused him of being the same as Snape. So this is how she sees me? Thought James. He couldn't believe that he had been misunderstood for five years. He had to set this straight now. He just had to set her right, before he lost her forever, before she flew away.

'I was never trying to cat-'

Lily interrupted him by laughing cruelly, her eyes looked manic, she was beyond reproach. Her previous point had drove her to a position of invincibility. She could not be touched.

'Never tried to catch me? Make me one of your conquests? I will not be captured! I will not be bound down or ensnared!'

She slowly leaned forward with each word, trying to regain his eyes. If she had regained his eye contact, she would not have continued to say what she did next.

'I won't let you do that to me, Potter. I won't. Ever. I'm relieved you're starting to realise that

I. Don't. Want. You.'

James' eyes snapped back to hers, and Lily instantly drew back, breathing deeply from the close contact. His eyes clouded over, much like the sky outside the carriage, and Lily found herself being let in, not pushed back.

What she saw within his eyes sickened her to the stomach.

She had ripped him raw.

Tears mysteriously sprung into the back of Lily's emerald eyes, but she blinked them back, surprised at the emotion. Guilt pumped through her veins, she hadn't meant to sound so cruel.

The carriage slowed and came to a stop. The thunder roared. James stood to exit the carriage, but Lily shot her hand out to stop him, her small hand touching his arm.

Her hand surged, but she refused to shy away. She had to right things.

She couldn't believe how cruel she could be. She was turning into Severus.

'No, wait, Potter, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-'

James just pulled his arm out of her grip and without looking at her, entered into the storm.

Lily, shocked for a few seconds, stared down at her hand, her creamy white skin looked just as it always had. Unblemished, clear, unpainted nails. Just as they looked before.

She didn't know why she expected them to look different, the surge was just from her adrenaline pushing her to apologise. Lily didn't understand, this wasn't Potter. There was no wicked grin, no laughing eyes, no flirtatious jokes or innuendos and sudden proposals of marriage or something else equally ridiculous. He was so oddly... uninhibited.

A flash of light lit up the carriage, shocking Lily, as her hand flew to her heart, a gasp emitted from her mouth. She returned to the present, and jumping out of the carriage, performed a quick imperviuson her belongings and her uniform before looking along the station's entrance for a look at Potter's familiar black hair. He was gone.

Lily rushed forward, pulling her trunk along and extracting a smaller backpack with her muggle clothing, and heaving her trunk onto the luggage compartment herself.

The small patterings of rain began just as Lily jumped onto the train, revelling in the warm, golden glow cast by the gas lights. The whistle blew, the doors were closed. The red carpet warmed the carriage as it began to rattle and move down the tracks.

Turning around, Lily found herself face to face with Vivian, already donning her muggle clothing. Jeans and a t-shirt bearing the name of some Wizarding band that she was in love with this week, Vivian grabbed onto Lily's arm, her other holding her uniform.

'Oh there you are! I came to check on you, Celeste was going crazy saying you'd missed the train and got eaten by a Grindylow or something. I wasn't really listening.'

Lily laughed uneasily, thoughts still weighing heavily on her mind. 'Hey, Lils, are you all right? You didn't laugh at my joke.' Vivian frowned and searched her face.

'Oh it's nothing,' Lily forced a smile and shook her head slightly as if to clear it. 'I had a run in with Potter and-'

'Say no more!' Vivian laughed, 'I can tell it wasn't pretty, let's get back to our compartment.'

Sliding the compartment door open, Lily and Vivian slipped inside, where they met a fretful looking Celeste who was staring out the window and wringing her hands in her lap, and a stressed looking Aurelia hiding behind an old copy of WitchWeekly.

Vivian grabbed Lily and pulled her in front, 'Look who I found!' Celeste and Aurelia turned around, looking relieved. Aurelia feigned indifference, slapping Celeste playfully on the arm.

'See I told you she was alive, Cell!'

'Hey! There was no call for violence!'

'Well you made me worry over nothing!'

The bickering continued, so Lily and Vivian sat down beside each other, Lily watching the sloping hills of the Scottish Highlands slowly drift behind them.

The hours drifted by, coupled by the light-hearted bickering between Celeste and Aurelia and Vivian enjoying her last few hours left of magic, sending their Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavour Beans, Pumpkin Pasties and at one point in time, Lily's book (much to her dismay) soaring around the compartment.

Lily finally retrieved her book, and settling down again, slightly dishevelled from jumping up and down to catch it, casually asked Aurelia about her holiday plans, her eyes drifting upwards to watch her expression.

Aurelia did not make any gesture, and for anyone else looking in on the conversation, it would appear that Aurelia did not hear Lily, but she knew her friend better. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and strain appeared around her forehead, matching with a slight fiddling of the hem of her muggle cardigan.

'I don't have any plans,' Lily shut her book and leaned forward, giving Aurelia a look that plainly stated, Don'tlietome.

Aurelia sighed resignedly, 'Oh fine, my family's been invited to Black's place for some sort of summer garden party. It's all the usual rubbish.' Lily groaned sympathetically.

'At least Black will be there though,' Lily said lightheartedly, 'you've always gotten along, though I have absolutely no idea why.'

Aurelia looked exasperatedly at Lily, no longer trying to hide her feelings, 'Lily, they're really not so bad, you've always had this stubborn resolve to hate them, but what have they really done to you personally?' Lily was about to answer but was interrupted, Aurelia was definitely not finished yet. 'And don't you say, "OhallthethingstheydidtoSnape" because you and I know well that he wasn't a little ray of sunshine either. They were both cruel to each other.' Lily sat back in her chair, slightly wounded.

'Look, I'm sorry, but I need to say this, you've been prejudiced against them long enough. I'm not saying be their best friend,' Lily looked outraged, 'I'm not! I'm just saying, try...' Aurelia searched for the word, 'try to be... nice?'

Lily huffed, crossing her arms, 'the only Marauder that I could ever be niceto is Lupin, and that's because he's half decent.'

Celeste looked up unexpectedly, something flashing across her eyes, before turning to look back on her muggle novel.

In Lily's distraction, Aurelia jumped back in, 'Half decent? Merlin, Lily! He's really sweet, and I'd have thought that with you and him being prefects this year you would have taken the opportunity to make friends with him, but no you paired off with Snape for rounds.'

'Hey! That's not fair, Snape was my friend then-'

'I know, but what about next year? You're both going to be prefects again, but I doubt you'll be pairing off with Snape again, right? So why not try for some Gryffindor loyalty and pair off with Remus.'

'Aurelia, why are you so intent on this?' Lily's eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'You haven't been put up to this by Potter and Black have you?' Aurelia didn't reply instantly.

'Have you?'

Celeste tried to calm Lily down, but to no avail. Vivian just shrugged at her as if to say There's no point.

'James feels really bad about the other d-'

'Oh so he's James now is he? How close exactly are you with them? I can't believe you, you turn against us to join forces with them? They're all arrogant, pig-headed, egotistical brats who've had everything handed to them on a Goblin made platter embedded in a sea of diamonds!'

'Really, Lily?' Aurelia seemed almost disappointed. 'Five years of living in the same tower as these boys, taking the same classes and spending free time in the same room, and that's all you've got?' Aurelia stood up. 'You've always claimed to be a great judge on character, and being able to read peoples feelings, but I'm afraid your talents in this respect have been grossly exaggerated.'

And with that, Aurelia slipped out of the compartment, the sliding door closing with a small click.

Lily felt the blood rush to her face, a sudden heat that she could not, for the life of her explain. Embarrassed? Why should she be embarrassed? Everyone knew that the Marauders were show offs and rule breakers. Everyone knew that.

Aurelia's resolve however, the disappointment... Was Lily feeling shame? Her judgements on character had always been right, why would anything be different with the Marauders, after all, they were just another group of idiot boys.

Right?

James trudged his way towards the compartment known to belongto the Marauders. One of the slightly more roomier of the Hogwarts Express compartments, Sirius and James had bagged this compartment after Severus and Lily had exited it back in first year, and five years later, the quartet were still there. They lounged about, playing loud games of Exploding Snap and eating barrel loads of Honeydukes chocolates, courtesy of Sirius.

Entering the compartment dressed in his muggle clothing, a simple pair of dark jeans and a button up green shirt, James sat down in silence, gaining Sirius's attention, who looked up from his game of Exploding Snap with Remus.

'All right there, Prongs?'

James did not immediately reply, but looked up at him and opened his mouth, as if deprived of speech. He nervously moved his hand to the back of his neck, ruffling his hair.

Sirius picked up on these signs quickly, and moving from his seat next to Remus, prodded Peter to move and sat in his spot. Peter pursed his lips but stood up, tottering over to sit with Remus and continue the game.

Sirius, to many, was seen as a flirtatious, loud and unconcerned person, but the Marauders seemed to be the only ones who knew differently. Sirius' eyebrows contracted with concern and he nudged over to James and lowering his voice.

'What happened with Lily?'

James wasn't even shocked, Sirius knew everything about James, sometimes he felt as if Sirius knew more about him than James knew about himself.

'She hates me,' James' voice broke off, suddenly shaky. Sirius gruffly patted him on the shoulder.

'Nah she doesn't, mate. She wants you, she just doesn't know it yet.'

'Padfoot you can't use that anymore! She looked me in the eye and said, "I don't want you", she was so happy that I didn't ask her out for once.'

James' voice was no longer shaky, but had acquired a faint and distant quality. As if he was no longer in that compartment, but far off somewhere.

'This is what she wants. I'm not going to bother her anymore, she obviously hates me so I won't waste my time anymore.'

Sirius looked at Remus and Peter, Remus was feigning ignorance to the situation, but Peter had a kind of difficulty in showing subtlety.

With a kick from Remus, and a yelp from Peter, he obtained a look of quiet reservedness, as if he was at James' deathbed.

Sirius turned back to James, 'Now I want you to listen to me, Prongs, don't shake your head for the love of Merlin just listen. I know it's tough, though I can't really say I know what you're going through, just give her some space or something.'

James looked up, 'Wow, Padfoot, who knew you could be so deep?'

Sirius grinned toothily, his grey eyes brightening, 'I'm not, it's the excuse I give all girls,' he took on a look of painful reservation, 'Look we've had such a great time together, but I need some space,' He looked up at James, the ghost of a smile on his face, 'I'm not ready for a long term relations-' And he consequently burst into a fit of laughter, the sound resolutely sounding like a bark. Ironic huh?

James finally cracked a smile, and shaking himself, looked at Sirius, 'Coming over these holidays?'

Sirius suddenly looked nervous, a trait not usually seen on his handsome face.

'What?' James looked at him, 'What happened with your parents?' His eyes suddenly darkened at the thought, 'They still on about this dark magic phase going on?'

Sirius looked down, 'I can't do it anymore Prongs,' he looked back up, 'I don't know what to do.'

James took him gruffly by the shoulder, 'Move in with my parents and I,' Sirius looked up, his eyes sceptical, 'Look, Mum and Dad already look at you like a son, why not live under the same roof?'

Sirius looked at James, 'Are you sure?' James just disregarded the question with the shake of his head, 'What are brothers for?'

Sirius' face cracked into a full blown grin, 'Thanks, mate,' and prodding Peter again, returned to his game with Remus, losing spectacularly and spending the rest of the train ride saying how it was Peter's fault.

The train slowed to a complete stop, the whistle echoing loudly at the cloudy London sky which was slowly darkening from the late afternoon. The doors opened and the sounds of parents being reunited with their children filled the air, mingling with the mist from the train. Lily loved this moment, watching the faces of parents, wide and often tearful, opening their arms wide and having their children rush forward towards them. She, Vivian, Aurelia and Celeste stepped onto the platform, collecting their trunks, and found a small clearing.

Celeste was the first to crack, tears springing into her eyes. 'You will all write me won't you?'

'Aww Cell!' Aurelia enveloped her in a hug, patting the back of her head. 'Of course we will, I would invite you to mine if my parents weren't crazy.'

Celeste looked aghast. Lily took over the comforting, 'We'll meet up, and hopefully go to Diagon Ally together in August!'

Reassured, Celeste released Aurelia and turned to hug Vivian and Lily, 'If you need me Lily, just owl okay?'

Lily looked stunned, Celeste always had a knack for picking up on false senses of happiness, for Lily it was one of those moments.

Smiling slightly, Lily replied, 'Of course, you too.' And as she moved away to join her nervous parents, Lily turned to give one final wave to her best friends slowly disappearing into the mist.

'Oh Lily! Welcome home, honey!' Lily's mum hugged her tightly, 'Have a good year?'

Lily nodded and hugged her Dad, who was smiling gently at her. He took her trunk for her and began leading them off the platform towards their car.

Lily sighed, the thought of going home was bittersweet, and she wondered if whether a year would have changed anything between Petunia and herself.

James stood next to Sirius, having said goodbye to Remus and Peter and promising to catch up within the next week. Sirius watched James sadly as he followed his gaze towards Lily who was embracing her mother and father.

James didn't say a thing, he just turned and disappeared into the darkness leaving Sirius alone.