AN:/Yay, two updates in one night!
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Lily didn't really remember the journey home. She was furious at herself for crying in front of him. She was furious for crying at all! She'd finally let him get to her. All that rubbish about liking her and wanting them to be friends, it had all just been a game.

Lily had been telling herself that for years, but now that even James himself had admitted it, she had to say she felt pretty crap.
She was still so angry. Why hadn't she punched him or something? That would have been much better than walking off like a stroppy girl from a bad movie. She was embarrassed too; what would the rest of the marauders say? And the girls?
Damn James Potter.

"Lily? Thought you were going out with your friends?" The rest of her family had just arrived back.
"Came home early." Lily shrugged. "Where were you three for so long?"
Mrs Evans blushed and looked over at her husband.
"Oh, well, we were looking at a house actually." He rubbed his neck nervously.
"You were what?" Lily questioned.
"Well, your mother and I have been living in this house since we got married. We reckoned a change would be nice."
"And you just forgot to invite me to see the house replacing my childhood home?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

Her parents looked over at each other, as if saying 'your turn.'
Petunia took it upon herself to explain.
"They didn't invite you because you go off to that freak school for 10 months of the year. We only see you at Christmas and summer; so technically, you're just a visitor. A houseguest."
Bloody fantastic.
Not even her own family wanted her.
"Nice to know I'm considered so important to this family." Lily folded her arms.
"Petunia didn't mean it that way-"
"Oh, I did." Her older sister interjected.
Lily smirked. "Okay Tuney, if I'm a guest, why don't you go and make me a nice cup of tea?"
Petunia scoffed. "No way-"
"Well," Mr Evans began. "She has a point, Petunia…go make her a cup of tea."
Petunia scowled and walked to the door.
"Your mother and I too, thanks!"
Lily heard mutterings of the words 'slave' and 'bloody' a lot before her sister went out of earshot.

Lily crossed her legs over. "So, how was this house then?" Lily's dad shrugged.
"It's okay…don't know if we could bare to leave this one."
She nodded.
"Where is it?"
"Little Whinging. Number 4 Privet Drive."
Lily's mum wrinkled her nose up. "I didn't like it at all; too prim and proper. It didn't feel like home." She paused. "Your sister adored it though, said if she and Vernon move in together that'd be her perfect home! Well, she'll be 20 next week…old enough to grow up! I wonder if Vernon might propose?"
Lily rolled her eyes, seeing her mum become teary. Mr Evans was frowning, as if it was just dawning on him who exactly his first daughter could be spending the rest of her life with.

Petunia returned with three cups of tea. She slammed Lily's down on the coffee table. Lily grinned as her sister glared and sat down opposite her.
"So you liked the house, Tuney?"
Petunia nodded, looking over at her mother quickly.
"Yes. It was practical! Good size kitchen and living room. Large enough cupboard under the stairs for storing coats and such in." Lily stared at her. Who honestly cared if there was enough room for coats?
"Fascinating." Lily said. That earned another glare from Petunia.

Later on, when she was eating dinner with her family, Lily decided to forget about the marauders. She was going to live like a muggle for the summer; no spell books or potions. Perhaps she could even get a job at a café or something? She nodded to herself. That would be good.

The next morning Lily found two letters on her desk. One from Marlene;

Lily!
What the hell happened?
TELL ME.
Marlene.

The other from Sirius;

Way to go Evans.
You've caused Prongs permanent brain damage or something.
He hasn't spoken one word all day.
SB.

She discarded them after reading once. Muggles didn't send letters by owls, so neither did she.
Though, she did hope very much that something bad had happened to James Potter on account of her. That thought made her smile.

Lily got dressed and figured she could do some bonding with Petunia. Maybe they could go for more than 10 minutes without killing each other in their heads.
She opened Petunia's door.
"Hey, Tuney I-"
"GET OUT!" Petunia slammed the door in her face.
Oh well…it was worth a try.

Seeing as she couldn't talk to her sister, Lily reckoned a nice day with her father couldn't hurt. Perhaps they could go into town or something.
Lily approached the kitchen and nearly vomited at the sight.
Her mum and dad were-ugh-kissing over their cornflakes. Lily covered her eyes.
"Parents!" Lily shouted.
They broke apart, smiling at each other sweetly.
Lily shook her head. "You disgust me."
She walked out and just kept on walking, out the front door. She soon found herself at the park.

Lily sat on the swings, watching two young children playing by the slides. They looked about nine; the age Lily was when she first met Severus Snape.
For the first time, Lily thought about how her life would have been if she'd never gotten that letter on her 11th birthday.
She would have gone to St Brigids secondary school with Petunia; they'd have been the best of friends. She would have been closer to her parents, she also would have been considered more than just a passing houseguest.

But she would have never gone to Hogwarts, never met Alice, Marlene or Hestia. She wouldn't have a clue what strange words like 'Quidditch' or 'Muggle' meant.
After thinking about it, Lily decided she was extremely glad she was a witch. Even if she was just a freak.

"Lily?" Lily looked over her shoulder and groaned. From the corner of her eyes she saw Severus sit down on the other swing.
"What are you doing here, Snape?" Lily said bitterly.
"This is our meeting place, remember?" The smaller boy said quietly. "We can see the swings from our bedroom windows. So when we looked out and one of us was sitting here, it meant 'I need you with me right now'."
Lily looked over at him. "Well, that was before."
"Not now?"
Lily shook her head. "No."
Severus looked down. "Oh, sorry. I saw you, that's why I came."

"Why did you just leave me with Avery and Mulciber on the train?"
"I'm so sorry about that Lily." Severus said, looking guilty. "You don't know them like I do. You can't just…disobey them."
She smiled sadly. "You were always a coward. Even when we were little."
Severus nodded. "I know. I…I hope they didn't hurt you."
"No. They didn't."
"That's good then."
Lily looked at him sharply. "Why do you bother with them?"
Severus bit his lip. "They know people, Lily."
"Bad people. Like that Voldemort chap."
The boy beside her stiffened. "D-don't say his name!"
Lily scoffed. "I'm not scared of someone arrogant enough to demand people call him 'you know who'…honestly!"
"He has the right idea, you know."
Lily laughed. "This is why we can't be friends, Severus. You support the man who wants people like me dead."
Severus said nothing.
Lily herself didn't know much about Voldemort. All she'd heard was that he was some bloke who fancied starting a bit of a rebellion, pure blood supremacy and all that. She wasn't worried; Dumbledore would never let him get out of control.

"You've chosen your path, I've chosen mine." Lily said simply.
Severus sighed.
"I have to get back…my mother doesn't know I'm out."
He got up and waited for Lily to say goodbye. She turned away and scuffed the metal pole with her foot.

When Lily looked back, Severus was gone.