"What—no hug, Evans?" Sirius asked, expression one of false-sadness.

Lily stared down at him. Sirius chuckled quietly thinking her aims were to intimidate him.

"I will hex you if you don't remove your shoes from the coffee table, and that's about as touchy-feely as I'm going to be this week unless you cooperate." Lily's fingers tapped against the wand in her pocket as if to make her point clear. "I don't suppose you want to incessantly sing Muggle show tunes for the remaints of your years?"

Sirius shrugged. "I think they're rather catchy, actually." To Lily's surprise, he did lower his feet to the floor. He wore heavy black biker boots with silver buckles, severely ripped blue jeans, and a leather jacket over a black shirt. His dark hair fell nearly to his shoulders, looking elegant in a way only he could pull off.

James, on the other hand, wore a short-sleeved dark green shirt with immensely less ragged jeans. His skin was slightly tanner than Sirius's, and his hair much more unruly. He smiled at Lily, looking at her as if he was assessing her in some way. "All right?" he asked, quite timidly.

Lily sighed for what she thought not to be the first time in this upcoming week. She pulled her lips into a tight sarcastic smile. "What do suppose I'm going to say to that?"

Maggie clapped her hands together. "Yes, well...lovely! I think I'll go show Sirius his quarters. Sirius?"

Sirius winked at James before he and Maggie disappeared into the corridor; the creaking of the steps could be heard as they ascended the staircase.

"She didn't tell you." James rubbed the back of his neck. "I just assumed you knew, Evans, I'm—"

"Don't apologize." Lily stopped him. Although she thought it awful sweet of him to try to make amends. Sweet, and quite out of character.

James smiled conspiratorially. "I wasn't going to."

"Than what, may I ask, were you planning to say?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You may ask," James quipped. "And I was planning to say that I'm incredibly parched and could do with a glass of water. Or a mug, as I'm not too fussy."

Lily cocked her head, highly doubting this was what he was going to say. "Really?"

"Really." He grinned crookedly at her, one hand running through his untidy locks.

"A mug of water it is, then." She entered the kitchen with James following behind her.

Immediately, James walked to the kitchen window and shut it firmly. "Just so you're not tempted," he explained with humour. "You might knock out one of the neighbours with that arm of yours."

Lily grinned sarcastically as she poured James a glass of water and handed it to him. He inspected disapprovingly before he drank. "I thought we had agreed on the mug?"

Lily leaned against the kitchen counter, watching him as he sat at the small kitchen table positioned in front of the window. "Transfigure it yourself, if you want it so badly."

He grinned up at her, clearly taking this as a challenge, and drew his wand. With a moment of focus and a quick wave, the glass transformed effortlessly into a soft blue mug. He held it up to the rest of the kitchen, admiring how it coordinated with the hangings.

Lily shook her head, but said nothing, knowing that the sarcastic remark that was about to leave her mouth would not better the situation she had somehow gotten herself into.

James downed the mug in several gulps. "I prefer Muggle water," he declared once he was finished.

"We all live on the same planet." Lily pointed out, her arms crossed. "At least physically."

"Are you insinuating something about my current mental state?" James asked, leaning forward in his chair.

Lily thought for a moment. "Pass."

"Pardon me?"

"I'll pass on answering that," she said. And it was her turn to smile conspiratorially.

"Which translates as...?" he prodded persistently.

She looked down, her grin widening. "Shockingly, it translates as 'I'll pass.'"

"Now you're just messing with me."

"I enjoy doing that every once in a while."

"Since when?"

"Since..." She shrugged quite cutely (in his opinion, which was extremely biased). "Since now."

James did not know where this pleasantry was coming from. it wasn't as though they had spent the last term at Hogwarts rowing, but they hadn't spent it as mates either. It was a mutual relationship, he supposed. He had tried—oh, Merlin had he tried!—to gain her friendship. He had changed a lot over the past year; more than either he or Lily knew. And she had noticed. Mostly the little things, but she HAD noticed.

"What the hell is this?" Sirius asked as he entered the kitchen, holding up a blue toilet disk. "Do you eat it?"

Lily blew a laugh out her nose that turned into a fit of giggles. James and Sirius looked at her oddly, for they were from magical familys and knew not of the sacred powers of toilet disks. Maggie, who had come in behind Sirius, was just as intrigued.

"You put that in the toilet," Lily explained, causing Sirius to knit his brow slightly at the strange object he still supported. "It cleans it and as a result, the water turns blue."

Sirius shook his head, setting the disk on the counter. "Muggles..."

"Where are your parents?" Maggie asked, picking an apple out of the fruit basket and polishing it on her tight Weird Sisters tee-shirt before taking the seat across from her cousin.

"Went to the market," Lily glanced at her watch, "should be back quite soon. You should bring your luggage upstairs," she said to James, for Maggie and Sirius had already done so. "Your room is the second on the left."

As James stood to aquiecse, Maggie nodded her head and motioned quietly towards James, mouthing "go along." Lily restrained her eyeroll with great effort, but did as her friend requested.

"You'll have to share with Sirius," Lily said as the two ascended the staircase, "we only have one extra guest room."

The Evans's house was what one could comfortably call 'quaint.' It had the bare necessities, such as a kitchen, a sitting room, a dining room, three bedrooms, one guest room, and two lavratories. There was a gravel driveway in the small front yard, and a tiny garden in the slightly bigger backyard. It was a home equipped for a family of four, though five could squeeze in with a bit of extra effort. Six, however, was pushing it, most especially when those fifth and sixth people were James Potter and Sirius Black.

"It's definitely no Potter Manor, but you'll have to make do." Lily continued as the two reached the small landing at the base of the second floor. James couldn't tell if she was joking, but swore he heard a note of sarcasm. So far he had a tally of four sarcastic tones and expressions just since he had arrived not fifteen minutes ago.

"It isn't," he agreed absentmindedly, eyes circling around the small corridor that the five bedrooms branched off of. Lily stopped walking and turned to face him, an eyebrow quirked. "I didn't mean—that is, I like it," he stammered. "It—it's different from what I'm used to, is all. It's too quiet at my place." He finished lamely, hand jumping to rub the back of his head.

Lily looked faintly amused. She led him into the second door on the left, revealing a fair sized room with a two double beds against one wall and a dresser facing them of the other. The window was against the far wall and provided a peculiarly good view into the neighbours lavratory.

James set his trunk on the floor and smiled at Lily. "Thanks, for—for, you know...playing along with my diabolical cousin's schemes."

She put her hands on her hips and remarked sarcastically, "Now I see how you two are related."

Five.

They looked similar enough, for sure. Maggie and James shared the same raven black hair (although hers was longer and considerably more tidy), the same tall and slender build, and sometimes even the same facial expressions. Maggie's father and James's father were brothers, and looked quite similar to one another themselves.

"Maggie is...Maggie." He put his hands up in surrender.

"Well said," Lily commended with the most sarcasm yet. James wondered how she could be so hostile and so extremely attractive at the same time. Her emerald eyes were slightly narrowed, dark red hair fell in waves just below her shoulders, her legs looked absolutely fantastic in the denim shorts she wore, and the light blouse, he thought, could use one less button and be a bit more see-through (but that would be just wishful thinking).

"Perhaps we should—?" Lily motioned to the hall after a few moments of silence between them.

"—and of course she should keep her options open, being so talented and, if I may be so bold, beautiful, but I strongly think she should seriously consider it as a possible career option—" Sirius could be heard saying as Lily and James descended the stairs. Lily quickened her pace, anger rising as she found Sirius seated at the table with her father, the latter who had quite an intrigued expression on his face.

"Oh, hello, Lily dear," her mother smiled gently as she unloaded the groceries with the help of Maggie. Mrs. Evans was slightly shorter than her daughter, had a kind face, and certain aura of grace surrounding her.

Lily glared at Sirius, who merely winked in return. She would remain calm. Patience is virtue (though she would lean quickly the contrary in the week ahead of her as she comes to spend more time with one Sirius Black).

"Dad, I see you've met Sirius." Lily smiled what she thought was a quite genuine smile, and it would have been had it been directed soley at her father instead of Sirius.

Mr. Evans was tall and had a slight belly. His hair (although it was now quite scarce and a tad grey) was clearly the same shade of red as his daughter's. "Yes," he smiled as though intensely interested. "Sirius here tells me that you, what was the phrase, lad? Are quite the talent at 'shaking your maker?'"

He was a dead man. Oh, Merlin, would she murder him.

"I think Lily would make quite an exotic dancer," Sirius continued rather seriously. "She's young, beautiful, and knows how to—"

"All right Sirius." James said sternly, surprising Lily. He looked half amused and half annoyed at his friend's behaviour.

Mr. Evans looked at James, his hands intertwined and set on the table. "And you must be—"

"James Potter, sir." James produced a polite yet charming grin. How he could accomplish that expression without looking cheeky was beyond Lily's knowledge.

"Ah, James Potter. Maggie's cousin, yes?" Mr. Potter asked, apprasing James with an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Evans turned to Lily. "Sir..." He smiled. I like this one, dear. He's a keeper." He winked at the two of them.

It took Lily's brain several moments to process this. In which Maggie asked, "Where does this go, Mrs. Evans?", Sirius tried and failed to contain his grin, and James stood there like an idiot, hoping Lily would say nothing to the contrary.

"He's not my boyfriend." Lily blurted out. Everyone in the room stared at her. "That—that is, we're not dating." She glanced a James. "No, no, no—we're not dating." She laughed at the incredulousness of this very thought. "No, no...NO."

"I think we've got the point, Lily." Maggie remarked.

"Yes, well I myself have been waiting for Lily to discover her feelings for poor James, who is nothing short of desperate to have her." Sirius consented solemnly, to which Mr. Evans grinned and patted the chair inbetween himself and Sirius.

James glanced sideways at Lily, who was throwing him a look that said nothing less than murder.

"Come, now, lad." Mr. Evans insisted, his hand motioning to the chair. James finally did aquiesce. "So tell me about yourself, James."

"He's fantastic at Quidditch," Maggie piped up, setting a loaf of bread on the counter. "He's also the best his year—besides Lily, of course." She grinned at Lily who was throwing daggers with her eyes.

Mr. Evans's eyes lit up. "And do you have any plans for the future?"

"Yes," James nodded. "I'd like to go into Quidditch professionally. My back up plan is to work for the Ministry in the Auror department."

Lily knew her father did not know what an auror was, but this answer seemed to greatly please him, for his eyes flickered to Lily and then back again. He clasped James on the shoulder. "You're a fine young lad, James."

James smiled that polite and charming smile. "Thank you, sir, I appreciate it."

Lily breathed out slowly. No wonder why James's head was so damn big—he was simply to charismatic for his own bloody good!

"Thank you, Maggie." Mrs. Evans touched Maggie's arm warmly as they finished the rest of the groceries. She turned to Lily. "There's still a carton of eggs left in the trunk, would you mind—?"

"I would be happy to help, Mrs. Evans," Sirius shot her a handsome grin and stood. "James, would you like to assist me?"

Mr. Evans chuckled. "It doesn't take two lads to carry one carton of eggs,"

James whispered after Sirius was in the corridor, "Weak arms."

"And he has a sense of humour!" Mr Evans grinned delightedly and clasped his hands together, turning to his wife. "Anne, I can already picture the grandkids."

Lily groaned loudly. Maggie laughed.