Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.
Lily was sitting quietly in one of the very comfortable armchairs in the library of her very large home reading one of the many novels that lined the shelves of the room. She was just savoring the whole things; she loved the afternoon sunlight that streamed in through the floor to ceiling windows and bathed her bare legs in warmth; she was reading an especially thrilling mystery novel, and she had a batch of freshly baked cookies and a cool glass of milk on the table next to her, just within her grasp; she also had another two hours until she would be forced to start the three hour-long process of getting ready for her birthday party that evening.
Unfortunately, Lily's peace did not last forever. One of the maids rushed in and said, "Sorry to interrupt miss, but there's a visitor here to see Mr. Black and I can't find him anywhere."
"He's probably still sleeping Kendra," snapped Lily as she was pulled out of her book.
"Yes of course miss, sorry to have bothered you," mumbled Kendra as she looked down at the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry Kendra; I didn't mean to snap at you. This is just an intense book," she said smiling apologetically while showing the book to the frightened maid in front of her. "But, just out of curiosity, who is here for Sirius?"
"She's says that she's his mother and that she's looking for him, to bring him home."
"Oh, where is she?" asked Lily in what she hoped was a calm tone. In truth, she was scared to death. Mrs. Black was here? Lily had heard stories about her… she shivered and was so caught up in her thoughts that she had to ask Kendra to repeat the location of Sirius' mother.
Once Kendra was dismissed and asked not to wake Sirius up, Lily placed a bookmark in her book and gently set it down on the side table. Then she checked to make sure that her wand was still in her pocket where it belonged. Satisfied, Lily walked quickly over to the front parlor where her guest was located.
Lily hesitated before the door for a minute; when she didn't hear the sound of anyone screaming or anything breaking, she deemed it safe and stepped into the room.
The room's only occupant was turned away from Lily and seemed to be examining the fireplace extensively.
"May I help you?" asked Lily timidly.
The woman spun around and Lily was a bit surprised. She had never actually seen Mrs. Black, but this was not what she had expected. The woman before her actually looked, well, she looked like a mother should. She had short dark brown hair and warm hazel eyes. She also had a comforting smile and lovely dimples.
"Ah! Hello," the woman said nicely. "You must be Lily!"
"Um, yes I am," said Lily uncertainly, all the while her hand inching towards her wand.
"I could just tell! My son James speaks so highly of you and he pointed you out at the train station a while ago," said the woman, whom Lily finally discovered was Mrs. Potter, not Mrs. Black. "You really are much prettier in person and even more beautiful than James described."
Lily blushed at Mrs. Potter's compliments; she now felt really badly for crushing James just before the vacation, but it was for his own good, she reminded herself. She didn't want him caught up in her life; it was hard enough for her to deal with, she didn't need someone else becoming part of the tangled web.
"Umm, you were looking for Sirius?" she asked.
"Yes, yes I am. Do you know where he is?"
Lily grinned. "He's still sleeping. But I can wake him up for you if you like?"
"No need dear, I will do it myself," said Mrs. Potter with a grin somewhat similar to James' own mischievous smile.
"I'll show you the way then," said Lily as she exited the room with Mrs. Potter in tow.
Lily and Mrs. Potter silently made their way through the hallways until Lily stopped in front of a door and said, "This is Sirius' room."
Mrs. Potter smiled gratefully and said, "I must commend you my dear; not many people would take Sirius Black into their homes and tolerate him for an entire week. I would have been here sooner to collect him if my son hadn't sent me on a wild goose chase."
"What chase?"
"Well, I got curious when Sirius didn't come home with James this summer. James said that he was staying with Remus. A few days later I talked to Mrs. Lupin, who had no idea where Sirius was and said that Remus hadn't mentioned any of the boys all week. James then told me that Sirius was off at Peter's. I was rather concerned at this point because the story had changed very quickly, so I went directly to Mrs. Pettigrew who hadn't seen Sirius either. This really had me worried."
"I would assume it would," said Lily, putting her two cents in.
"And then finally I discovered that he had gone home with you while talking to my good friend Rachel McKinnon, Marlene's mother of course."
"That is quite a hunt."
"Yes and I'm not about to let him forget it, let me tell you. But I'm still confused as to why Sirius is here; perhaps you could enlighten me my dear?"
Lily took a deep breath; then she shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. Finally she looked Mrs. Potter in the eye. "I know a lot more than I probably should, but most of it is speculation on my part. What I was told however, is that Sirius did something unforgivable to Remus, he betrayed him in some way, and it basically tore them all apart. None of them are speaking now."
Mrs. Potter looked startled, "They aren't speaking to each other? They are letting some small problem get in the way of their friendship? That's ridiculous! The boys mean the world to James and vice versa! I am not about to stand by and watch them destroy their friendship over an argument. They are all too proud to be the first to suggest reconciling, but I am not. They will settle this whether they want to or not, and I'm sure that Remus and Peter's mothers will help as well."
"I don't know what Hogwarts would be like without them," said Lily with a small smile.
"It would probably be a lot quieter and less scary to the first years," said Mrs. Potter with a chuckle.
"Well you had better wake Sirius up so the reconciliation can begin," said Lily to the very strong-willed woman in front of her.
"Yes I suppose that would be a good place to start. He has been long overdue to get a scolding for going missing and not leaving a note or owling or anything, leaving me to have to do some investigating on my own and drop by uninvited to bring his sorry arse home! Sorry, sorry I'm just a little upset with him at the moment."
Lily smiled; she had no doubt that Sirius was about to get a very rude awakening; literally.
"I'll be in the library if you need any reinforcements," said Lily.
"Don't worry dear; I can handle Sirius Black all on my own."
"I never doubted it."
Approximately thirty minutes later, a knock came on the door frame and Sirius poked his head in the room. "Hey Lily!"
"Afternoon Sirius," said Lily without looking up from her book. When she finally finished her page, she put a bookmark in her book and turned to him.
By this time he had shuffled into the room with Mrs. Potter right behind him, smiling triumphantly.
"So, what's going on?" inquired Lily.
"Well, I suppose I'm going back to the Potter's now to face my imminent death," sighed Sirius dramatically.
"Sirius," warned Mrs. Potter.
"Right," he said with the grin he used to try to flatter Professor McGonagall. "I'm going back to the Potter's house to get murdered by my three best mates."
"Sirius," said Mrs. Potter exasperatedly.
"Oh, thank you so much for hosting me this past week it has been a pleasure," said Sirius as if he were a well-trained little boy repeating exactly what his mother had told him. "How was that Mrs. Potter? Satisfied yet?"
"Yes Sirius, you did very well," said Mrs. Potter patronizingly.
"It was my pleasure," said Lily with a smile at the exchange. "It was fun having a boy in the house; I've only ever had sisters. It was a new experience."
"One I'm sure that you will never want to repeat," said Mrs. Potter with a disapproving glance at her surrogate son.
"Oh no, Sirius behaved himself the whole time. I was actually quite proud of him really."
"Really? Sirius behaving himself? Why I never…"
"See Mrs. Potter; I wasn't a burden!"
"It's true Mrs. Potter; he was a great guest."
Mrs. Potter, still looking shocked said, "This doesn't change anything Sirius Black! You are still grounded for not sending an owl about where you were going!"
"Fine," mumbled Sirius.
"Well, Lily dear, we must be off. Thank you again for keeping Sirius contained and out of trouble. And thank your parents for me too; Sirius says that they aren't home right now."
"He's right; my dad's at his office and my mother went out visiting." Then Lily smiled as the pair walked out of the room.
"Sirius wait!" said Lily as she thought of something suddenly.
"You called?" he said as he turned around.
"Before you go could you do me a favor?"
"Sure, I figure you've got about thirty favors coming to you."
"Could you say good-bye to Daisy? I think she's developed a crush on you since you've been here. She would be devastated if you left without saying something to her."
Sirius grinned widely, "Of course I'll say good-bye to Daisy; where is she?"
"She's outside on the patio with a few of her friends. She'll be thrilled if you say good-bye to her in front of her friends; they all think that you are incredibly cute for some bizarre reason. She's been showing them her sketches of you all morning. They are all very jealous of course."
Sirius chuckled loudly. "Don't worry; I'll take care of her. See you later Lily. Don't forget to owl!"
"Never. Don't get yourself killed; I don't want a blubbering Daisy on my hands. She can be very dramatic when she wants to be."
"I'll do my best," said Sirius pretending to be serious as he saluted Lily and left the room.
Sirius explained his reason for delay to Mrs. Potter, who had been waiting outside the library, and then promised to meet her in the car out front.
Sirius meandered out to the patio grinning to himself.
"Hey Daisy," he said nonchalantly as he walked onto the patio.
He was met by the stunned looks of several thirteen-year-old girls and the smug look of one Daisy Evans.
"Hey Sirius," she said with a wide smirk. "You got up a whole hour earlier than yesterday; I'm so proud of you!"
"It wasn't pleasant let me tell you," said Sirius. "My friend's mom came by to tell me that I had to go home now."
"You have to go?" asked Daisy as her face instantly fell.
"Yup, 'fraid so. I've overstayed my welcome as it is."
"No, we love having you here!" said Daisy.
"And I love being here," said Sirius sincerely. "But, I have to go settle some things at home."
"Will you come visit?"
"Well, I'm kind of grounded for a while, but after that sure! And you can ow- send me letters; just ask your sister for my address."
"I'm going to miss you Sirius," said Daisy as she got up from her chair and gave Sirius a big hug.
"I'm going to miss you too love, but don't worry I'll be around. Take care of your sister for me," he said as he disentangled himself from her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Will do," she said quietly. As Sirius turned to go, she said loudly, "Wait, I want you to have something!"
"I love presents!" said Sirius with a wide smile that made the girls giggle.
Daisy ran back over to her seat and pulled out her sketch book. She quickly flipped to a page and ripped one of them out.
"Here," she said proffering the page.
"Thanks," said Sirius genuinely as he looked at the very well-done drawing of him and Lily chatting happily. "This is really good. Don't forget to invite me to your art show in some famous museum some day."
Daisy grinned, looking incredibly adorable with her blonde hair plaited in two braids with bows at the end.
"See you around Daisy," Sirius said for the last time as he really departed.
Sirius could hear the hushed whispers and giggles erupt behind him as he went back inside the house. Lily was standing up against the windows and as he walked by, Lily said to Sirius. "Thanks, you made her really happy."
"My pleasure, she's a sweet kid."
"See you Sirius."
"Bye Lily."
Lily felt a kind of sinking feeling in her gut as she watched Sirius walk away. It had been fun having him around. He made her laugh and he was a welcome break from all of the other pompous momma's boys that she was forced to deal with everyday. She was going to miss him.
A few hours later and several hundred miles away, things were not going especially well at Potter Manor. Due to the combined efforts and threats of Mrs. Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had been assembled in one room and made to stay there while their mothers listened intently while having tea to see if their sons had reconciled yet. The three women had had it with their sons' moaning and wanted to see them out of the house and having fun. So, they set up this little meeting at which they could catch up on news and make their sons be friends again at the same time.
"Roberta, Linda, do either of you know much about Lily Evans?" asked Mrs. Potter.
Linda Lupin replied, "She's been a prefect with Remus for the past two years. He says that she's a brilliant witch and very brave to boot."
Roberta Pettigrew than said, "It seems like Peter is scared to death of the girl. Apparently she had some sort of run-in with the boys and she took them all down a notch."
"I heard of that incident too," said Linda. "Remus said that Lily especially deflated James' ego."
Marilyn Potter sighed, "He does have an oversized head. It's good to know that somewhere someone can pop it every once in a while."
"From what I have gathered, mostly through guessing- I swear I hardly ever can get Remus to talk to me- Miss Lily quite often puts James in his place," said Linda.
"Peter also says that James has taken quite a liking to Lily, but she turns him down every time he asks her out."
"Is that so?" Marilyn mulled over this new information. "I seem to recall Sirius and James talking often about Lily, though James usually tries to silence Sirius immediately and turns red in the process. Though, he has said some things about her on occasion; all very, very flattering descriptions. He pointed her out to me once when I asked," she mused.
"Why do you ask Marilyn? Matchmaking again are you?" asked Linda as she took a bite into a buttered scone.
"Of course not!" said Marilyn indignantly. "And besides as I recall that match turned out well and they are now happily married with several children. But that is beside the point. You'll never guess where I finally found Sirius."
"Where?" asked both of the other mothers, eager for some gossip.
Marilyn smiled against the rim of her teacup and looked at her companions. After she took a sip of tea, Marilyn said, "He was at Lily's house!"
"Oh! That's going to be a bit of drama there. Do you think that's what they are fighting about?" asked Roberta.
"No I don't, I think this goes deeper than that; though I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Lily Evans in the future," said Marilyn cryptically.
On the other side of the wall, Sirius had finally had enough of the brooding silence that had fallen over the room ever since the four boys had been forced into it together. He stood up from his corner and said, "Ok! This is stupid! We shouldn't be fighting like this! I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry ok? I AM SORRY! Can't we just get over this and move on?"
"You betrayed us Sirius; that's not that easy to get over," said James sullenly from his corner.
"No James, he betrayed me, me and only me," said Remus with sadness evident in his voice. "But, I agree Sirius, this has been going on for too long."
"No point in ruining our friendship right guys?" said Peter. "What would Hogwarts do without us?"
"I'm sure Minnie would sleep safer and Filch would breathe easier," said Sirius, very relieved that things were going so well.
"Hell, he might even stop hyperventilating," said Remus wryly.
Three of the Marauders shared an uneasy laugh; James however was still glowering in his corner.
"Remus!" he shouted. "How can you reconcile with him? He could have gotten you locked away in Azkaban! He sold you out to your worst enemy!"
"Don't you think I know that? I'm pretty familiar with the laws, thanks," said Remus. "I'm just sick of us fighting."
"But now Snape knows!"
"I know Snape knows, James. But, Dumbledore made sure he wouldn't tell; he made him do an Unbreakable Vow that he wouldn't tell a soul. I trust Dumbledore; he's done so much for me."
"James," began Sirius.
"No!" shouted James.
"Just listen to him," said Peter.
"No, I'm not going to listen!"
"James, be reasonable! I don't want to fight anymore! If I can forgive him, you can too!" yelled Remus uncharacteristically.
"You forgive me?" asked Sirius.
Remus turned to Sirius. "Yes," he said at last. "I forgive you, but I don't exactly trust you anymore. It's going to take a while before I can trust you again."
"Understandable," said Sirius very relieved.
"You forgive him?" spluttered James.
"Yes," said Remus tiredly. "I do forgive him because he is one of my best friends. But that doesn't necessarily mean I trust him, at all. Now stop being a prat and let's all be friends again. This week has been terrible; I have had no incentive to get up in the morning, and my mom has been badgering me to get up and do stuff. She's been really annoying actually; she's been hovering a lot, and she always wants me to talk to her."
James sulked for a while, but then finally swallowed his pride and said, "Alright. The Marauders are back in action."
"And for our first new adventure," said Sirius grinning like a maniac. "I have the perfect idea."
"What now?" asked Peter impatiently, causing the others to laugh..
"Guess who is having a birthday party tonight?"
"Who?" asked Peter brightly.
"One Lillian Evans," bragged Sirius. "And I know where and when."
"So you want to ruin her birthday?" asked Remus skeptically.
"No! Of course not! I was actually thinking of saving her from boredom, I thought we could just brighten up the party a little bit," said Sirius diplomatically.
"Like how?" asked Remus.
"The usual, spike the punch, bring along some music, games… you know."
"How did you know about the party?" asked James suspiciously.
Sirius gulped. He had been afraid of this part. When he didn't answer, James repeated the question, his tone low and dangerous.
"Well, you see, I was rather afraid of being torn to ribbons if I went with one of you guys for the summer and I certainly couldn't go to the Blacks, so I went with Lily back to her place," Sirius' voice was no louder than a whisper by the time he had finished.
Unlike what any of them suspected, James did not blow up or internally combust at this news. In fact, he didn't say anything. Peter thought that James had gone deaf.
"What time is the party?" asked James finally.
Sirius glanced at his wristwatch. "Should get going any minute now."
"Well let's go then! We have a birthday celebration to crash!" said James heroically.
James went over to the door and, finding it still locked, knocked and said, "Mum can you let us out now?"
"Please" added Remus.
"We're friends again," said Peter happily.
"Yeah what they said," concluded Sirius.
Mrs. Potter opened the door and surveyed the four boys, "Glad to hear it. Now James and Sirius, you are both grounded for a week." When the boys in question opened their mouths to protest, she continued, "James you lied to me about where Sirius was twice, and Sirius you never sent a note or an owl telling anyone where you were going and caused me a whole lot of worry. So now, you are both being punished. Remus, Peter you may both visit for an hour, if it's alright with your mothers, but after that the punishment goes into effect immediately."
The quartet all nodded with their heads hung and after their mothers had agreed, they ran upstairs to James' room, while their mothers proceeded to talk about them.
"Ok, we need a new plan," said Sirius as soon as they had all seated themselves in their normal positions; James claimed his bed, Remus sat in an armchair near the window; Sirius hopped up on James' desk and Peter was left to sit on the floor at the foot of James' bed.
"Not a new plan, just one that's more cunning," said James conspiratorially.
"We're still going to do this?" asked Remus.
"I thought you guys were grounded," said Peter.
"Minor technicality," said Sirius. "All we have to do is wait until your mothers come and collect you. Then Prongs and I will go our separate ways, maybe listen to another lecture from Mr. or Mrs. P., and then we all meet back up somewhere."
"You do know that if you get caught, Mrs. Potter will likely ground you for an even longer period of time," said the voice of reason, Remus.
"It'll be worth it," said Sirius. "We can't leave Lily by herself to face a boring party."
"Why is it going to be boring?" asked Peter.
"Because, because, because it just is! Take my word for it, Lily will be glad that we're there."
"Are you sure Sirius? Because if we ruin Lily's birthday and she hates us for the rest of her life, I will personally hex you from here to Lily's house so that she can hex you some more, and don't forget she's awfully good at Charms," said Remus, trying to recover some of the former brotherly bantering that had existed between him and Sirius before the prank on Snape. However, his tone only came out as tense and strained; it was as if he was trying too hard to feel something that he couldn't.
Sirius quickly sobered up. He knew that even though Remus had forgiven him that they were still on uncertain terms; Remus' tone especially reminded him of that fact. "Don't worry Remus. I'll take the heat if anything goes wrong, and if she wants us to leave, she'll say so. Lily doesn't exactly keep her opinions to herself."
"That's for sure," muttered James bitterly. He still hadn't come to terms with his latest rejection.
"Hey Prongs! Why aren't you happier that we're crashing Lily's birthday party? I thought you loved her!" teased Peter.
"I never said I loved her," said James quietly with a repressed anger that Peter failed to notice.
"Yes you did," continued Peter. "All the time! She's all you ever talk about! How can you even say that you aren't like totally obsessed with her?"
"There's a big difference between love and obsession Peter," said Remus quietly and calmly.
"Can we stop talking about this now?!" James exploded. "She and I are through! It's over; I lost!"
"Do you, umm… want to talk about it?" asked Sirius tentatively.
"Not especially," said James angrily.
"Ummm… ok, do you not want to go to Lily's party then? We can just skip it if you want…" Sirius offered with rare sensitivity.
"No, do what you want. I'm not going to let her rule my life anymore," stated James firmly. "Now what's the plan?" he asked, his face shining with fierce determination and excitement that only came from planning a prank that was going to require stealth, rule-breaking, and possible punishment.
While her classmates were planning how to defy Mrs. Potter's punishment on her two sons, (Sirius was considered another son to the Potters), Lily was with her parents, greeting the local dignitaries and snobs who were wishing her a happy birthday but knew neither how old she was nor when her actual birthday was.
An hour later she was mingling among the sons and daughters of the local snooty people in a ballroom adjacent to the one in which the adults were. The only differences in the two rooms, besides the size, were the music, which was much more contemporary than the traditional waltzes in the adults' room, the dancing, which went along with the respective music, and the lack of alcohol, at least that's what the adults thought. Besides these things, the teenagers were all wearing similar garments, constricting dresses one size too small and itchy tuxes that too many pieces for the boys to comprehend.
It was among these richly decorated garments made of silk and velvet that Lily first noticed the second set of unexpected guests that she had received that day. However, she was not able to get close to verify the identities, though she had a fairly good idea who would crash her party, because just then she was asked to dance by the son of some lord or duke she only knew in passing.
In fact, Lily didn't get another chance to investigate further for quite some time, as she was continuously asked to dance, though she was able to spot the boys who stuck out like a sore thumb every so often. But, finally, she skillfully avoided a guy who looked as though he was going to ask her to dance and she was able to walk over to the boys as quickly as her floor-length, six-pound dress and four inch heels would allow her.
Yet again, Lillian Evans was right. The four boys in front of her, dressed in ripped muggle jeans and varying shirts, were indeed the Marauders. "So you decided to crash my party huh? Were you so desperate for Saturday night plans?"
Sirius smirked, "Hey! I was invited! It's just these losers who decided to be chumps and tag along."
"I hate to burst your bubble Sirius, but you were never actually invited; you were just expected to attend because you lived here. Now you don't, so you were officially not invited," said Lily jokingly.
"But I was not invited in the first place, how could I now be not invited later?"
"Happy Birthday Lily," interrupted Remus as he noticed that Lily was ready to retort.
"Thanks, but my birthday was actually weeks ago."
"Then why are you having a party?" asked Peter.
"Because on my real birthday I'm in school, so my mother throws me a big party when I get home," explained Lily patiently. "So really, why are you guys here?"
"Sirius here thought that your party would need some help," said Remus with a scowl towards Sirius. "But if you want us to leave, we will."
"No, you don't have to leave. I don't mind that you're here at all, but just so you know, don't bother spiking the punch because a. it's already been spiked twice that I know of and b. the champagne is right next to it," said Lily smugly.
"Well there goes plan a!" joked Sirius.
"And remember that we're in a room full of muggles, so any magic would result in disciplinary actions from the Ministry."
"Wow, Lily you are no fun!"
"I know," said Lily as she stuck her tongue out at the perpetrator, Sirius.
Just then, the guy that Lily had previously outsmarted, caught up to her and said, "Lillian, you are proving to be very elusive tonight, but finally I have caught up to you and now you can dance with me."
"Was that a question?" asked Lily as she turned away from the Gryffindor boys.
"No… yes… ummm," the guys snickered at the young man standing in front of Lily squirmed under her intense gaze.
Lily sighed, "Sure I'll dance with you." Then she added to the guys behind her, "Please excuse me, I'll see you later."
After she left them, the Marauders burst out into laugher, earning them even more odd looks than they were already receiving.
As they were laughing a girl in a dress that was very low cut and beyond tight, walked up to the boys and in a high-pitched sneer said to them, "The servants entrance is in the back of the house; there is no need for you to have to go through the ballroom to get to the kitchens."
"Umm… we're not servants; we're guests," said Peter.
"Well I couldn't possibly tell by the state of your clothes," she said snootily.
"And we couldn't possibly tell that you don't have a very large stick stuck up your ass by your personality," said Sirius in a falsetto voice that imitated the girl's.
"Well I never!" she sniffed.
"Maybe you should look into an extraction, it might make you a more pleasant person," said Sirius.
The girl huffed again and walked away.
"Well that was rather rude," said Remus.
"Yeah she was wasn't she?"
"I was talking about you Sirius," said Remus harshly.
Oh," said Sirius rather dumbstruck. "Well she deserved it."
"Whatever," said Remus quietly.
Before there could be any more conversation between the boys yet another girl walked up to them, though she was dressed more conservatively in one sense; though the lime green color of her dress might have caused people to think otherwise.
"Hey, who are you? My name is Cindy! I don't believe we've ever met before! I know just about everyone but I don't think I know you guys! Though I haven't been to an Evans party in a couple of months... Are you new friends of Petunia? Or Lillian? Or are you friends of Daisy's? Isn't it kind of funny how they are all named after flowers? Though Lillian isn't exactly a flower, but lilies are! My mother thinks that it's kind of odd… though she thinks I'm odd too, and I am anything but odd!"
When Cindy paused to take a breath after her very long and very fast monologue, Remus stepped in so that she would stop talking! "I'm Remus, this is Sirius, that's James and that's Peter. We go to school with ummm Lillian."
"Wow, you have kind of funny names. Is that a requirement at the school you go to? I bet that would be a funny school if it only accepted people with weird names. I guess I wouldn't get in… Cindy is such a normal name! Though Cindy isn't my real name. My real name is Georgiana! But I don't think I'm a Georgiana! Do I look like a Georgiana to you?" she asked Remus.
"Ummm no?"
"I didn't think so either! I don't know what my parents were thinking when they named me! They were probably stoned. Yes, that must be it! Have you ever thought of your parents as getting stoned? I certainly have. Sometimes I think I'm adopted! Every time my mother tells me I'm not I can tell I am. It's like reverse psychology! She tells me I'm not and I then think I am!" Cindy/Georgiana let out a high-pitched, really annoying giggly laugh… like sound. Then, to the horror of all, she continued, "Funny how that works isn't it? I guess I don't know everyone because I don't know you guys! But wait I do know you guys! You're the guys with the funny names! I remember now… who are you? Get away from me! Where are you taking me! Help! Help! Whisky! Gin! Wine!" shrieked the girl suddenly.
The Marauders slowly moved away, fearing for their lives. The girl continued to shriek. She had moved onto to condiments now.
As they backed up, they literally ran in to someone.
"Oomph!" said the girl that Peter had run into.
Peter squealed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! It was an accident! Please don't hurt me!"
"Get a hold of yourself," said the girl as she adjusted her dress. "Who are you?"
Remus stepped in, "I'm Remus, and these guys are James, Sirius and that's Peter."
"I don't think I've seen you around before," said the girl. "Though I don't know half the people here. I'm Jane Rivers."
"A pleasure to meet you Jane," said Sirius with a bow and a flourish.
"Likewise I'm sure," she said dryly. After a brief pause, she said, "So who are you?"
"Friends of Lily Evans," said Peter. "We go to school with her."
"I always thought that she went to an all-girls school," said Jane.
"Nope, recently went co-ed," Sirius cut in smoothly. "Too boring without any guys there to spice it up."
"Sure," said Jane disbelievingly. "Whatever, I don't care."
"Well it was," said Peter defensively.
"How would you know if you weren't there?" challenged Jane. Then she looked behind the boys and seeing something suddenly asked Sirius before anyone could provide a retort to her previous question, "Hey do you want to dance with me?"
Taken aback, Sirius paused for a moment, shrugged and then said, "Sure, why not?"
So then Sirius left his three friends standing alone. However, they were not alone for long, because soon a group of six girls came over and began flirting with the remaining Marauders and then Sirius when he returned. Soon all four of them, even Peter, who wasn't usually a hit with the ladies, were dancing with very pretty girls.
An hour elapsed in this fashion; the boys didn't get one minute of rest because they were constantly swarmed and were too polite to turn down any offers. All of them were too busy to notice that their popularity was causing the other male attendees of the party to be overshadowed and under-appreciated.
At last, the boys managed to break free from the girls and all met up at the punch bowl to see if it really was spiked and if it wasn't to make it so. All four wore wide grins at their success, but Peter was the most excited of them all.
Sirius took a swig of the punch and said, "This isn't spiked! Lily may be crafty, but she isn't crafty enough!" And then he proceeded to dump a bottle of unidentified liquid that came out of his pocket into the fountain of punch.
Peter took a glass and only took a small sip before spluttering and saying, "What did you pour in there? Concentrated firewhiskey?"
"Precisely my dear Wormtail," said Sirius slyly.
"Everyone will be drunk within minutes," predicted Remus.
"That is the fun of the exercise."
"Who wants to give Evans a glass?" asked James.
"Not me," said Peter quickly. "She always knows when I'm up to something."
"Ummm, yes, she does seem to see through you," said Sirius thoughtfully. "She'll know that something is up if I give it to her too."
"I refuse to give Lily spiked punch at her birthday party," said Remus nobly.
"I'll do it," offered James.
"Yeah that won't be suspicious at all," said Remus sarcastically.
Fortunately for Lily, their plan was stalled by the arrival of seven rather angry-looking guys; however the effect was far from scary because they were all dressed pristinely in tuxes and many had parts in their hair that made it look like their mothers had dressed them.
"Can we help you?" asked Sirius as he took a half-step back to look at the new arrivals that did not look as if they wanted some punch.
The preppiest one stepped forward; he was obviously the leader of the pack and said, "What do you think you're doing here?"
"Define "here"," said James annoyingly. "Here as in on earth or in England or in this room or in this particular spot? Technically "here" could be anywhere really. It's quite a relative term."
"Here as in at this party you bumbling idiot!" said Mr. Preppy.
"Well, now that you have clarified," said Sirius. "We can tell you that we have been sampling the punch."
"No you simpleton! You're moving in on our territory and we don't appreciate it! We want you to leave now."
"The last time we checked," said Remus, speaking for the first time. "This wasn't your party, so you can't tell us to leave."
"And even if it was your party, we wouldn't leave," said Peter with the bravery he was only able to absorb from his friends.
"Not that we would be there in the first place," sneered James.
A fight most definitely would have broken out had Lily not stepped in at that very moment, a big and very fake smile gracing her face. "Hello everyone," she said with too much cheer in her voice. "Having fun are we?"
"Loads," said Sirius, not taking his gaze off of the group of boys in front of him that he knew, even though they were outnumbered, the Marauders could take them down in a matter of a few minutes.
"Oh good," said Lily. "Sirius I was wondering if you could do me a favor and talk with Daisy for a few minutes? She's incredibly bored here. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet is beside herself looking for you. Remus, Cindy a.k.a. Georgiana is on a search for you; so I would start running towards the other end of the room if I were you. Peter, Tracy is wondering what happened to her glass of punch; Jack, Nicholas, Andrew, and Wilson, your respective girlfriends are off dancing with other guys, and Robbie your mother is searching frantically for you."
With just a few sentences Lily had effectively cleared the area of everyone except for James. She was just about to turn and leave, when he caught her wrist and said, "What, couldn't be bothered to come up with a lie for me?"
She looked down at her wrist and his grasp on it, but he didn't release her. He was angry and he needed to get it out.
She coolly stated, "I didn't think it was necessary since you were the only one left. My goal was to stop a fight from occurring and since you were the only one that was, theoretically, going to be left here I thought my goal would be accomplished."
"You may have stopped one argument but you provoked another. Can we talk somewhere?"
Lily churlishly replied, "Perhaps if you would let go of my wrist."
He dropped her hand as if it were burning him and then gestured for her to lead the way.
Lily led James quickly out of the ballroom, through the hallway, up a flight of stairs, down another hallway and into an empty bedroom.
"Quite a remote location," remarked James.
"Well I figured that whatever you felt the need to say to me would be loud and I don't relish the idea of a bunch of gossips overhearing it."
"What would make you think that?" asked James casually as he leaned up against one of the posts of the bed frame.
"You're mad at me."
"How would you possibly know that? You don't know anything about me. You have always just rejected me without any reason!"
"Reason? I think the fact that you torment people is reason enough not to want to go out with you! You are rude and arrogant and presumptuous!"
"You're grasping at straws now! I haven't hexed anyone without reason all year! And you know what, I did it for you! I was trying to impress you! It's always been about impressing you! But I'm getting sick and tired of trying to impress you when nothing is good enough for you because you are too close-minded to get over your set feelings about me!"
"Haven't you ever considered the fact that maybe I DO NOT WANT TO DATE YOU LIKE EVERYONE ELSE? HAS IT EVER OCCURRED TO YOU THAT IT IS YOUR FAULT I DON'T WANT TO DATE YOU BECAUSE YOUR EGO IS SO INSUFFERABLY LARGE AND YOU DISGUST ME?! YOU HAVE NEVER GIVEN ME A REASON TO CHANGE MY OPINION OF YOU! THEREFORE, I HAVEN'T!"
"WHY MUST YOU BE SO IMPOSSIBLE? I'M NOT THE GUY THAT YOU OBVIOUSLY THINK I AM! AND BESIDES I'VE WATCHED YOU CHAT HAPPILY WITH GUYS WHO ARE SO MUCH WORSE THAN I AM!"
"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU DON'T KNOW THEM AT ALL!"
"IT'S KIND OF OBVIOUS WHEN THEY GO AND CHAT YOU UP AND THEN STICK THEIR TONGUES DOWN THE THROAT OF THREE OTHER GIRLS FIVE MINUTES LATER!"
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? I NEVER ASKED YOU TO LUST AFTER ME! GIVE IT UP POTTER! I REFUSE TO BE YOUR 'FLAVOR OF THE WEEK'!"
"Is that what you really think about me?"
"Potter, it's blatantly obvious to me that you don't take your relationships seriously. I have been on the many receiving end of blubbering rants against you far too many times to think anything else. I refuse to be one of those blubbering girls; not now and not EVER!"
"And here I was thinking that you just hated me because I was an insufferable git. Now I realize that you just are truly delusional and just don't want to see me in a better light! You want to hate me because you're scared."
"I am not scared of you!"
"I didn't say you were scared of me," smirked James. "But now I'm pretty sure that you are. You know this clears up a lot of things that confused me about our last conversation."
Lily grimaced; she had relived that conversation so many times in her head. It haunted her; she knew that she had let on too much. She didn't hate James, and now he knew it.
"So now I'm going to ask you again, have you ever felt anything but hatred and disgust for me?"
Lily straightened her posture and said very clearly and slowly, "No."
"Why won't you admit it?" asked James, who was clearly frustrated. That was not the answer he had expected; he had thought he was getting somewhere.
"There is nothing to admit! I'm done with this Potter! Just leave me alone!"
By now James was very confused. Last time he had talked with her, Lily had seemed almost remorseful that she was rejecting him again. That had of course angered him because she was just, in his mind, delaying the inevitable and getting pleasure from seeing him in pain. Now she seemed as if she really did just want to be left alone. What was with this girl and where did she get off being angry with him? He wasn't the one who had trampled her spirits on a constant basis.
"Would you make up your mind?! Last time we talked you seemed sad to turn me away and now you're just angry!"
"I'm going to clear things up now once and for all; it is in your best interest for you to stay away from me. Just get over your little infatuation with me so that we can both move on," said Lily while looking in James' general direction, but not really at him.
"But why Lily?! I don't understand what your problem is!"
"Just listen to me! Get over yourself for like five seconds and take someone's advice! You aren't always right you know!"
"AND NEITHER ARE YOU!"
"But in this case I am! So just go away and stay away!"
"FINE! I HOPE YOU END UP ALONE WITH A MILLION CATS!" yelled James childishly.
"And I hope that you end up with some dumb blonde who worships the ground you walk on and a million arrogant little kids with messy black hair," said Lily caustically as she left the room without waiting for him to remark any further.
"ARGG!" yelled James to the empty room as he kicked the wall closest to him and subsequently cursed it with most of the foul words in his extensive vocabulary. "Why must she be so bloody annoying?!"
"I don't know mate," said Sirius as he waltzed into the room with a girl James didn't recognize.
"Where did you come from?" asked James.
"Well when my sicko parents decided that they needed an heir…"
"I didn't mean that!"
The girl interrupted then, "We followed you, duh. It wasn't hard either; I can see why Lily dragged you so far away from everyone else. You are probably the only person I have ever met who can even compete with Lily for her lung capacity and sheer volume when yelling."
"Who's she?" James rudely asked.
"I am Daisy Evans, Lily's younger sister and I am told that in your fantasy I would one day be your sister-in-law. Great start on the winning her family over endeavor," said Daisy sarcastically.
"You're a lot like her you know; sarcastic and bluntly honest," said Sirius admiringly.
"So I'm told," said Daisy, clearly pleased but trying to be nonchalant and cool about the whole thing.
"Why are you here?" asked James, in no mood for the antics of Sirius and the annoying little sister of the girl he desperately liked and hated at the same time.
"Curiosity," said Daisy. "I saw you and my sister sneaking off together and mentioned it to Sirius, who was also very intrigued, so we decided to follow you and see what was going on."
"Well how about you do something useful and tell me why your prissy, stuck-up sister won't just go out with me!" yelled James very loudly.
Daisy's happy countenance quickly slid off of her face. "Do you honestly not know then?"
"If I knew I wouldn't be asking!" growled James.
"I suppose you ought to know," said Daisy quietly.
"Is this what you wouldn't tell me in the car?" asked Sirius.
"Yeah, after I talked to you in the car, I grilled Lily for the information. Eventually she cracked, and I mean really cracked. It was awful. Are you sure you want to know because you won't like it."
James considered it for about 1.3 seconds and then said, "YES! I would love to know why she refuses to date me."
"It's really confusing and stuff but the way she explained it is that she doesn't really have a choice in matters right now. She said that she has to pick her battles and dating isn't one of her priorities. I think her top priority is staying in mother's good graces long enough so that she can go back to Hogwarts in the fall," explained Daisy gravely.
"Would your mum really not let her go back to Hogwarts?" asked Sirius.
"She's threatened it," said Daisy slowly. "She knows how much Lily loves it there. I don't really know if she has enough power over my dad to make him forbid her from going back. However, Lily isn't going to take the chance, not with Hogwarts."
"So why won't she date me? This story has been touching and all, but I just can't see how it affects me," said James like the spoiled little child he was.
"It's not that she doesn't want to; it's that she isn't allowed to," said Sirius slowly, looking to Daisy to make sure that he understood the situation correctly.
Daisy nodded and added, "That's why she seemed upset on your last day of school; she was upset because she knew she couldn't be with you. It was either you or Hogwarts. And now she's angry because she is living out what is forced on her instead of guys she could pick, like you. You just have to give her some time Potter and cut her some slack. She's had it rough, rougher than a rich, snobby jerk like you could ever imagine."
"I see my reputation precedes me," said James snidely.
Daisy, a look of fury on her face from James' attitude and the fact that he had hurt her older sister and role model, turned to Sirius and said, "You're wrong. It isn't about Lily not be allowed; it's about her not wanting to date such an insufferable prat like him." Then she looked back to James and loathingly said, "And I don't blame her for rejecting you; in fact, if I had a wand I probably would have hexed you across the Channel and back by now. The only part I'm confused about is the part where she feels regret for turning you down. You make me sick and don't you ever come near my sister again!"
With that parting sentiment, the emotional thirteen-year-old stalked out of the room.
"Well that went well," said Sirius sarcastically. "What is it about you that gets the Evans' women so riled up?"
"I dunno Padfoot," said James angrily. "But I'm done trying to figure it out. Let's round up Moony and Wormtail and head back home before my mom catches us out. I fully intend to heed Evans' advice; I am going to make the most of my summer by forgetting about her, and being grounded doesn't help that."
Sirius didn't know what to feel at first. But then, he realized that his first duty was to James, his best mate. Lily was going to have to be second; that was all there was to it.
"Sure mate," said Sirius. "But let's go out with a bang."
James smiled mischievously. "Do we ever go out any other way?"
A/N. Ok, I guess you guys want an explanation huh? Well life has been pretty crazy right now… piles of projects and mountains of work… and I just got my braces on. So, needless to say, I'm not exactly a happy camper at the moment. But, I finally updated and I'm really, really, sorry for the long wait! However, your reviews all really, really, helped and made me feel guilty for not updating, so please keep it up! Who knows how long this chapter would have taken me if I had zero incentive!