"Care for a lift, m'lady?" James Potter and his fellow Marauders stood before her. Well it was more accurate to say they flew before her. They were sitting comfortably upon a broomstick, with a girl behind each with the exception of James. "We're going out for a victory spin."

"I'm not dressed," she said as she glanced down at her pajamas.

Mary, sitting quite happily behind Sirius, flicked her wand. "Now you are," she said with a grin.

Lily looked down and rolled her eyes at what Mary thought was proper attire. She was in a pair of bellbottom jeans and a tie-dyed shirt that ended above her midriff. "Lovely," she muttered before speaking aloud. "Alright, swing over here, Potter." She climbed slowly onto the windowsill, taking care to balance herself. With a quick look down, she dropped herself onto the broom.

"Where to?" James asked with a small smile.

"We could go out to the Forbidden Forest," Sirius suggested.

Lily nixed that idea. "Too much of a chance we'll get caught." She thought for a moment. "How about the cliffs overlooking the lake? I know where a cave is."

Sirius looked at her with admiration. "We may have to add another Marauder to the mix, fellas."

She rolled her eyes but grinned at him.

James felt a bit left out so he swished the broom a little, enough for it to be noticeable but not so much that Lily would accuse him. With a little scream, she clung to him.

"We're off," he said as he lifted his broom higher into the air. "Everyone race to the cliffs and then we'll all meet and Lily can show us the cave."

The others set off in lightning speed. James flew higher and faster than the others.

"Can't. You. Slow. Down?" Lily said through chattering teeth.

James didn't look back at her as he spoke. "Slow's no fun, Evans."

"But I won't die from going slow."

"Yeah but you won't enjoy it as much." To prove his point, he slowed down considerably. The wind that had been whipping through her hair stopped.

She sighed. "Fine Potter, point taken. Speed up."

"You're bossy, you know."

"Less talking, more flying."

James grinned as he pulled his broom upward. He had it spin a few times quickly, then do a complete 360.

"Ho-ly shit," Lily sighed, wrapping her arms even tighter around him. "Can we do that again?"

James was in heaven. His brain couldn't focus anymore. All of his senses were in overload. His brain kept repeating the message: Flying. With. Lily. Evans! Flying. With. Lily. Evans!

Lily looked down at the lake beneath her in awe. It was such a beautiful sight. She felt sad as she tugged on James's robe to let him know that it was near time to land.

They landed reluctantly, the eight of them. Lily pulled out her wand quietly and led the group down a set of cliffs. There was a small path of sand, only visible to those who knew it was there. It was a five minute walk from where they landed but when they reached it, they instantly deemed it worthy.

The cave shimmered in the moonlight, looking out onto the lake. It was invisible to the naked eye, only seen by those who knew where to look. Lily smiled at their astonished faces and shrugged by way of explanation. She led them into it, grabbing firewood from the stack she'd left at the end of last year.

"Wow," James whispered, looking out at the view.

"Enough with the adoration." Lily grinned at them. "Let's sit."

Everyone settled in a circle around the fire she'd lit. The first hour of conversation was trivial but soon gave way to serious talk.

"So tell me something," Mary said as she leaned against Sirius, "are you and James related? Because my gran, who's all witch, thinks you two are."

"My dad and his mum are first cousins," James explained, "their parents were siblings. Me and Sirius are second cousins."

"Our families are tied together. By marriage we're related to every Hogwarts pureblood family." Sirius smiled. "Don't tell my mother, though. She hates that I'm related to 'those dreaded Potters, Weasleys, Longbottoms, Crouches, and Prewetts.' Actually the Crouches she didn't mind so much. Barty Jr.'s a bit batty, which makes her happy. But the rest of them? 'Blood traitors!'" Sirius said with a half smile. "It's a bit mad, the amount of time she spends investigating our lineage. She's completely psychotic about it."

"My dad loves to tease your mum about it," James said with a smile. He looked at the others. "We had this big reunion thing a few years back. Everyone who was alive was there. It was fun."

"Oh yeah. Hearing the Blacks and Rosiers and Crouches go on for ages about blood purification. My idea of a good time for sure." Sirius rolled his eyes. "But Andromeda's great fun. She's the only sane one in that family."

James pretended to look hurt. "Ahem! What am I? The help?"

"No mate, you're bloody insane." Sirius grinned at him.

Remus tossed a piece of firewood onto the fire. It crackled and began to burn.

"So let's everyone tell a secret," Neala Waters suggested. She was a fellow seventh year Gryffindor and Peter's "date" for the night. Honestly, the only reason she was here was because she fancied James but no one knew that. Or so she thought.

"What kind of secret?" Lily was instantly suspicious.

"Any kind you'd like." Neala shrugged.

"I've no secrets." Lily answered. "You lot can tell them. I'll listen."

"Nope, sorry Evans, doesn't work that way." James said with a slight smile. "If we tell, you tell."

"What is this, primary school?" Lily retorted.

"Come on, tell." James wheedled.

"No." She crossed her arms on her chest, glancing at her watch. "Oh wow, it's nearly four!"

The others looked at their watches in dismay. Four in the morning meant that they'd spent nearly five hours at the caves. Sneaking in would be rather hard.

"You can fly, right Evans?" James asked.

She looked at him apprehensively. "Somewhat…"

"Well then you'll have to fly my broom. It's too risky for all of us to be gallant and drop each of you off. You'll have to take Neala or Mary or Marlene with you but you'll have to fly. And you know Marlene can't fly. You'll have to take her on your broom. Toss her on there and Mary'll take Neala." James said, his voice dangerously close to ordering.

"And I'll just keep your broom then, for all of eternity?" Lily raised her eyebrow and looked at him with a scrutinizing look.

"Of course not!" He laughed outright at the idea. "You'll give it back to me later."

"Fine. Whatever." Lily shrugged and took the broom he offered her. Marlene clambered aboard behind her and they lifted off into the night sky.

"Sucks that you love her, doesn't it?" Sirius said lightly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

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Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I know it's not 20 reviews but 13 is decent. ) It's just one chapter, the rest are going to come up in sets of two.