Author's Note: Once again the typical blanket disclaimer. Please, review! Someone was helpful enough to point out inaccuracies that I fixed. It's been a few years since I've read the series in its entirety, so there are some details I forget.

They fell into a sort of routine at the Potter house. Agatha did her best working from home, using two way mirrors and the fireplace until she decided that Lily would be fine alone. She left the name of her office, telling Lily she could floo or apparate with one of the house elves if necessary.

The young witch told her that she would be fine. Lily had discovered the Charles' office and Agatha told her she could take whatever she wanted off the bookshelf that took up an entire wall. At noon Mopsy prepared lunch for Lily and she went in the backyard to eat with a book.

Sitting in a chair she found herself lost in the words. With the food in her system she found herself drifting slowly off to sleep. When her eyes were about to shut she heard a commotion coming from the side yard. Lily's heart pounded in her chest as she heard the din of voices. Her wand was in her room, she was underage...The gate opened and she let out a scream. A man walked in, wand drawn. His face was familiar and strange at the same time.

Lily froze, she took him in before taking a step forward, planning to run.

"Wait!" he called.

The man ran after her, Lily was meters away but his legs were longer and he was obviously more used to running than she.

"Leave me alone! What else do you want?" she screeched as he grabbed her arm.

"Who do you think I am?"

"I don't know…" Tears were beginning to leak from her eyes as she struggled to get away from him.

"My name is Charles Potter," he told her softly, hand dropping.

"He...Agatha said…"

"There was a huge upset with one of the Quidditch games, we didn't want to stay. Are you alright?"

Lily could see that he was clearly James' father. His height and build were the same, and his hair was just as messy. The only difference, eyes that were blue instead of hazel, were magnified by a thin pair of spectacles. Without them he no doubt would have that mischievous air about him. "I'm sorry...Agatha said that he…" Lily shook her head, trying to get composure. "Muggleborns are in danger. I heard the racket and thought-"

"Oh, I apologize for scaring you. Agatha told me everything, let's go inside." He passed her a reassuring look before gesturing towards the house. "James you can come out now," he shouted. "I heard the scream and wasn't quite sure what was happening, old auror habit." The man gave a shrug and an impish grin, looking every bit like the James Potter she knew.

"Evans?" James called as he walked forward carrying bags. "What...How…" He dropped the bags and ran a hand through his hair before pinning on what he probably thought was a sexy expression. "It's nice to see you."

"Likewise," Lily replied stiffly in an attempt to be polite.

"So, did you come to finally profess your undying love for me?" He picked up the bags and walked closer.

"Not quite." She gulped, hands balled into fists.

"Good, because it would be a bit stalkery and that's always been my MO…Are you going to tell me or should I keep on guessing?"

"James," Charles Potter said in a warning tone as he walked over to grab the other bag from him.

"I have a right to know why Evans is here!" he exclaimed, sounding and looking very much like a small child.

"You can talk with your mother when she gets home, come along." He tilted his head towards the house.

"Evans won't mind...We're regular old chums."

Lily felt like she was drowning. Her eyes stung and the knot that had remained in her stomach since she saw the burning house was growing bigger. "I'm sorry...I've gotten too much sun." She squinted as she ran back into the house and up to the guest bedroom to to seek refuge.

She must have fell asleep, because she heard a knock on the door and looked up at the clock on the wall, 4:43. Agatha wasn't supposed to get home until five. "Come in," Lily said. The door opened to reveal Charles Potter.

"Are you feeling better? I came to talk to you earlier, but you were asleep." He grabbed the desk chair and swung it around to take a seat as Lily sat up on the bed.

"You just gave me a fright, that's all." Lily took a deep breath staring at her hands. "I'm not paranoid, you know, there was a dark mark on the outside of my house. It's the same as the tattoo some of the seventh year Slytherins get on their forearms."

"I never said you were paranoid," he told her. " I had a talk with James, he won't pester you while you are a guest under our roof."

"What about at Hogwarts?" she joked.

"I can talk to him about that too." Charles sighed. "Agatha and I try our best, we really do, I gave him a good talking to and if he's not on his best behavior-"

"James gets in so much trouble at Hogwarts, I hate to get him in trouble here." Lily lowered her eyes once more.

"I've heard about you. He comes to me for advice," Charles said quietly. "I'll tell you exactly what he has said about you later. You can't breathe a word of it to him, though." He smiled at her, that same crooked grin that James uses. "Although, don't worry too much about getting him in trouble, he's done enough himself. I almost canceled the Quidditch trip after the incident."

Lily knew which one he was talking about. The one that caused the friendship between her and Severus to dissolve.

"Although, he did so good on his OWLs that he needed a reward." Charles was beaming at the mention of his son's academics. The pride in his eyes made Lily miss her own parents even more. Wizarding school or not when they saw her grade report the two of them would be so full of joy they would take her in their arms and plant a kiss on her cheek. "Right, Agatha will be home soon, I take it you're joining us for dinner?"

"Yes," she replied. "Thank you, for allowing me into your home."

"Lily…" he began. "I wouldn't have a second thought about allowing you into your house. I hear that your kindness rivals your academic prowess."

Lily blushed and looked down at her feet. "I did do fairly well on my OWLs."

"No need to be modest," he said. "Tell me."

"Well, I got mostly O's, except in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I got an E." She wrinkled her nose at that. "It was a question about the unforgivable curses." Lily shook her head. "At least I think it was. I can still take the NEWT level course, but...I wouldn't be any good at being an auror."

"Well, we could still go out celebrate. Ice cream after dinner?"

"Mr. Potter…"

"It's settled. Now, come along…"

Lily was sitting at the dinner table when James Potter came downstairs. At the sight of her he smiled and sat across from her. Unusual for him he didn't say a word, just looked at her. She wanted to throw something, it was the same look the fireman gave her...well, she didn't think that James thought she was mentally deranged, though.

They heard the fireplace, undoubtedly Agatha Potter flooing home. "James!" Mrs. Potter exclaimed running to her son. To his embarrassment she kissed him on the cheek and started fixing his hair. "Sorry to startle you today, they wanted to surprise me." She rolled her eyes, then looked at the table and around the room. "Where's Sirius?"

Charles immediately rushed over to his wife, kissing her right on the mouth. Once again James squirmed. "Orion owled me, he didn't even know Sirius was coming with us...He wanted him home immediatly."

"Was he alright?" Agatha Potter was clearly shaken at the mention of Sirius not being at the house.

"Everything seemed fine. Kreacher answered the door, Walburga greeted me...Regulus was there. I had no reason…" Charles hung his head, sadness in his eyes. "You know how the Blacks can be, my hands were tied."

"It's fine...James, owl Sirius the first chance you get."

Lily felt greatly out of the loop. She knew that Sirius was different from his family, that he didn't accept pure-blood views and was the black-sheep for getting in Gryffindor, but that didn't explain Mrs. Potter's actions She didn't speak for the rest of dinner, just listened as James and Mr. Potter relayed their tale Agatha. It made her heart ache for her own father when she saw how well James and his got along. After dinner, though, Charles held true to his word and the next thing she knew he was whisking her away to Diagon Ally and pressuring her to tell him everything about his son at school. In return he told her every piece of advice James had received. And for a few minutes Lily didn't feel quite so alone.

Two days had passed without much action. James and Lily stayed at opposite ends of the house without the parents home. Not being able to sleep, Lily wandered downstairs when the grandfather clock chimed two in the morning. She knew that her catnapping and early bedtime would catch up to her eventually.

In the kitchen Mopsy appeared as soon as she put the kettle on. Assuring the house elf she would be fine, Lily wandered to Charles' office to pull a book out. From the window she saw a figure swerving on a broom. Curiously she left the office, set the book down in the kitchen and went to the back yard. She wasn't scared, he didn't appear dangerous. As she moved tentatively closer she saw a recognizable figure. "Black?" she hissed.

"Evans?" he asked a little too loudly. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, this time of night." Appearing to be in pain, Lily rushed over to Sirius side, forgetting any horrid things he had done to her in the past. "I'll get Agatha."

"Could you help me clean up a bit first? She worries so much and 'll coddle me for days." Sirius looked up at Lily with large, puppy like eyes as she sat him down at the kitchen table. "Wait, why are you here? Did Prongsie finally get to you?" He looked Lily over. "You're not wearing his clothes, so nothing exciting must have happened."

Lily's jaw dropped at the suggestion.

"What? His parents are very liberal. Once they thought Peter fancied this boy and Charles sat him down…" Sirius started laughing at the memory, but he soon started wincing. "Why don't we talk later? Everything you need to clean me up is underneath the sink in the downstairs bathroom near Charlie's office…"

Lily rushed away to the get the white metal box. When she came back she saw Sirius unscrewing a bottle filled with amber liquid. "I don't think that's a good idea, you're underage."

"It helps with the pain." He wiped off his mouth the back of his hand. "I pinched it from my father, mulled mead." Sirius smiled hazily. "Want some, Evans? I know you have a reputation as a good girl, but…"

Lily rolled her eyes and began helping him with the wounds she could. There were several jars of paste that were supposed to combat aches and bruises. It took a good half an hour before he was all patched up. By that time there was a pot of tea sitting on the table, Mopsy made it up for them and put it in a keep-warm pot.

Exhausted she sat down next to Sirius at the table and poured each of them a cup of tea. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I think you owe me an explanation." He uncapped the bottle of mead and poured a bit into his tea. She didn't bother protesting this time.

"Haven't you read the papers?" Lily asked and realized it was a ridiculous question. "My parents were latest target of the Dark Lord. He burned down their house...They were the first muggle family caught inside." By the grace of god she managed to keep it together, the tears pricked at her eyes, but she didn't start bawling for the first time in days .

"Lily…" It was the first time Sirius used her first name. She used his first name name most of the time, not out of cause of friendship, but because oftentimes it seemed cruel to call him 'Black' when he tried so hard to distance himself from his family. "Well, I officially am no longer a Black. They disowned me." He took a swig of his tea. "Got into an argument with my father...I lied to him about going with James and had to rub it in his face. I rooted for the Chudley Cannons, he hates them. He says that team is all blood traitors, half bloods and muggleborns." He spat out the words, hating to say them in a negative way. "Got into a fight with my dear brother and then I got into a fight with my father...Then I got into an argument with mother who preceded to burn me off the family tree." He looked at the tea cup and instead went straight for the bottle.

"If it makes you feel better, I've practically been disowned."

"You're parents died, they didn't kick you out," Sirius said softly, but obviously irritated by her failed attempt at empathy.

"My sister," she explained. "She told me if I dropped out of Hogwarts and stopped doing freakish things…If I stopped being a witch...She would let me move in with her and her fiance, she told me we could be family again."

Sirius pushed the bottle close to Lily.

"When I told her no she just walked off."

Sirius held the bottle up closer to her, she shook her head. "It helps numb the pain, just a drink, come on now…"

She stared at it and finally gave in, taking tentative sip. As it hit her throat she began coughing, then warmth spread of her body. Lily smiled and took another quick drink, the coughing subsided quicker. Sirius laughed, then winced, and took a drink himself. Before long they were both quite loopy, the tea long since abandoned and collected by Mopsy who had set out a potion for both of them along with glasses of water.

"I needed this," Lily said. "I never knew you could be like this."

"Never gave me a chance Lily flower."

Their conversation was soon interrupted by the lights turning on and the Potter parents coming downstairs. "Sirius!" Agatha exclaimed, rushing over to the boy. "You'll have to tell me everything that happened." She kissed the side of his head and ran her fingers through his hair like he was a long lost son.

"I am curious as to what is happening here…" Charles looked at the table, the opened-half empty bottle of mead sat between the two teenagers.

"Pinched it from dad, bit of a goodbye present if you will…" Sirius yawned. "I figured the two of you would be unhappy, but Aggie isn't going to let me leave my room for ages anyway, so I might as well get grounded for a good reason.

"Goodbye present?" Charles asked, prompting Sirius.

"My face is no longer on the family tree," he explained, waving his hand in the air.

"Was this necessary?" Agatha was assessing his injuries taking notes of bruises, scratches and in one place a nasty burn. "You must have helped, you're a light sleeper, aren't you?" Agatha turned looking at Lily and medical kit on the table.

"Yes," Lily replied, not going into further detail as to avoid lying.

"Go to bed, honey." Agatha knelt beside Sirius, brushing her hands through his hair, not attempting to hide tears falling from her eyes.
Lily stumbled to her feet, caught by Charles who could smell the alcohol on her breath. "We'll talk in the morning," he told her stiffly. As if on cue James Potter came downstairs to see what the ruckus was. "Son, help her up to her room."

"Why would-?" He surveyed the room and his tired face broke into a smile when he saw Sirius, a bottle, and a stumbling Lily. He took the red-headed witch from his father and helped steady her as they made their way up the stairs. "I never took you as the type to indulge, Evans."

"Shut it, Potter," she snapped.

"Now, now…"

"You arrogant toerag." She tried to get away from him, but ended up stumbling. "Please, just leave me alone…" It was then she began to cry. She had no way of hiding it, she was centimeters away from him. "Mead doesn't help with the pain. Sirius said that it would numb it, but it doesn't. I feel dreadful and Tuney still hates me."

"It'll be alright," James says softly.

"No…" Lily shook her head as she was guided to her room by James Potter. "It won't, they can never come back." The boy embraced her gently before leading her towards the bed. Never before did she think he could be capable of this sort of mature kindness as he wiped away her tears with his thumb and helped her into bed without a single rude comment.

"Goodnight, my lovely Lily." James sighed as he looked at the girl curled beneath the covers that he had fallen hopelessly in love with years ago.