Their sixth year had come to and end and the students had returned home to spend the summer holidays with their families. The summer was the same as any other for Lily. The days she spent at home were uncomfortable with Petunia constantly calling her a freak and trying to avoid her. She often wrote to Marlene, Alice and Mary and had invited them round for dinner a few times, but they all felt uncomfortable with Petunia constantly looking down her nose at them.

It was a Friday afternoon in late July when she received a letter from James, she tore it open after recognising his handwriting on the front of the envelope.

Dear Evans,

You remember that barbecue that I mentioned? Well I know it's short notice but it's tomorrow afternoon from four o'clock. Alice, Mary and Marlene will be there along with Remus, Peter and Sirius. We've also invited Frank Longbottom along and he's going to bring a few friends, hope to see you tomorrow.

Potter.

Lily couldn't help but smile at how he had written the letter by using their last names, it had been that way since they had first met. She went upstairs to her bedroom to write a reply to James, she was actually looking forward to the barbecue it was a chance of getting out for the evening to escape Petunia's name calling and evil glares. Sometimes she thought her sister was acting like a small child whenever she was home.

She opened her bedroom door and sat down at the small pine desk in front of the window and pulled out some parchment from her trunk. Lily picked up the quill that was already on the desk and dipped it into the ink pot.

Dear Potter,

You really need to work on your timing, you leave things to the last minute. But luckily for you I have no plans and a barbecue could be just what I need right now. Is there going to be drink?

Evans.

She folded the parchment up and addressed it to James before getting up from the desk and tying it her her barn owl Felix. The barn owl flew off into the afternoon sun and Lily awaited for James's reply. As she waited for Felix to return, her bedroom door burst open and Petunia stood in the doorway.

"Mum and Dad are going away for the weekend," stated Petunia.

"Okay I'll probably be out all weekend anyway," replied Lily.

Felix flew through the open window and landed on the desk, a letter tied to his leg. Petunia eyed the barn owl and Lily knew the look on her face very well. The expression on her sister's face had been one that she had worn since the day Lily found out that she was a witch. Petunia had hated her since and never called her by her first name.

"One of your freaky friends?" sneered Petunia.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Tuney, why can't you just accept me for who I am?" she asked.

Petunia narrowed her eyes, "Please. You're nothing but a freak. Always have been. Always will be." sneered Petunia and then she left the room.

Lily slammed the bedroom door shut in frustration before ripping open the letter from James.

Evans

Yes there will be drink, me and Remus have been taking bets to when Sirius will pass out. Peter reckons when it gets dark. Hoping that you aren't intending to get too drunk but then again, the thought of you getting drunk is amusing.

See you tomorrow.

Potter.

Lily grinned, tomorrow night would be exactly what she needed.

Potter

I'm interested in seeing who will win this bet. Right now I need to have a good time.

Evans.

Once again she tied the letter to the owl's leg and sent him flying off into the sky, she was really looking forward to seeing the girls again and seeing what a barbecue hosted by James Potter would be like.

The Next Day...

Lily took a deep breath and knocked on the door, she smiled when she saw James open it. He took her jacket as he invited her inside the house. He's staring again Lily thought to herself as she watched James look her up and down in the white strapless summer dress she was wearing, her red hair fell neatly over her shoulders. James met Lily's eyes and gave her a warm smile.

"Glad you could make it," said James.

"Well I had nothing to do tonight," replied Lily.

James nodded and led her through to the kitchen where Sirius and Remus were handing out drinks to the other people who had arrived before she had.

"Lily Evans!" said Sirius in a tone of surprise.

"Alright Black?" asked Lily.

"Now I'd be better if your lovely best friend McKinnon would make make fantasies come true," Sirius grinned.

"Oh Black you can keep dreaming because that is never going to happen," said a voice.

Lily turned and greeted Marlene with a hug before being handed a beer from James.

"So who else is here?" asked Lily.

"Amos Diggory, Frank Longbottom, Amelia Bones, Emmeline Vance." said Peter.

"They're out in the garden on the barbecue," said Remus.

Lily took a swig of her beer and went out into the garden with Marlene and watched as the burgers flipped on the barbecue and Frank took the already cooked ones and placed them on a plate for people to help themselves. They put on the wireless and listened to the latest music from various wizarding bands and singers. The sun was nearly setting when Amos, Amelia and Emmeline left the house to go home, Frank remained behind. Lily, who had been watching Frank flirt with Alice all night, guessed that his plan to stay was to do with her best friend.

"So Ali, what's the deal with you and Frank?" asked Marlene in a low voice.

The group were sat in James's back garden on the freshly mown lawn, the boys had gone back into the house to bring out more alcohol for them to drink. The three girls grinned when they saw Alice flush scarlet.

"It's just harmless flirting," mumbled Alice.

"I think our Ali has a little crush on Frankie," cooed Mary.

"Shut up!" protested Alice.

"Awww I think it's sweet," gushed Lily.

Alice continued to get redder in the face as the girls teased her over her flirting with Frank, she could deny her crush for Frank all she liked but Alice knew that her friends could see when she liked someone.

The boys returned with more beers and some pint glasses, they sat down next to the girls in a circle as the sky began to fade from reds and oranges to a deep navy blue. Sirius suggested playing a drinking game when James chucked a galleon into his pint glass, the object of the game was to drink the beer without touching the coin. Sirius, who loved a challenge, drained the pint in one go without touching the coin but five minutes later he passed out on the lawn.

James laughed and chucked a galleon at Remus, Lily smirked at the pair when she realised that Remus must have won the bet that they had made. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alice and Frank head back inside the house, she only guessed that it was for something more than 'harmless flirting'. The rest of them moved back into the house as the night got colder, Remus and Peter carried a passed out Sirius to his bedroom whilst Mary and Marlene retired to the room they would be sharing for the night, leaving James and Lily alone together.

"Enjoying yourself?" asked James.

"Just what I needed," sighed Lily happily.

They went into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa, listening to their friends stumbling into various rooms.

"I wonder where Alice and Frank went too," mused Lily.

James smirked, "I caught them snogging in my dad's study, they've fallen asleep on the sofa in there." he said quietly.

Lily smiled as her eyelids began to get heavy.

"Evans, do you really think I'm that bad?" asked James.

Lily looked at him and shook her head, "You just show off too much. You want to impress me but you're going the wrong way about it," she sighed.

James raised an eyebrow.

"So how do I go about impressing you?"

Lily closed her eyes and sighed sleepily.

"Don't show off as much for a start," she yawned.

"Anything else?" asked James.

"Don't hex people," she added.

"I haven't as much as I used too," James defended.

Lily opened her eyes to look at him, she couldn't argue with that one. During their sixth year the amount of hexing people that James used to had gone down quite a lot, he still did it but not as much as he used to.

"Alright Potter, I'll let you have that one." she smiled.

James grinned, "Evans do one thing for me?" he asked.

Lily regarded him cautiously, "What's that Potter?" she questioned.

"Call me James, responding to you calling me 'Potter' since first year has begun to get quite boring." James complained.

Lily grinned, "Play your cards right and I might agree to your request." she replied.

Then she fell asleep.

A/N: So hope you lovelies like this chapter, leave a review?

Just to warn you all I'm moving home at the end of the month/middle of February so I will be without an internet connection for some time, will update before then but on the last chapter I will explain for you all not to expect an update due to the move. There's also the added pressure of my partner getting a new job and I'm in the process of new job interviews.