Next Monday Lily put on her dress and pulled her hair back before heading downstairs to wait for Agatha. She was apparating home, then coming to get Lily and side-apparating together. The funeral was at three and she wasn't going to back to work.

"Why are you wearing that again?"

"James," Lily said, looking up at the boy that had descended the stairs moments earlier. "I thought you knew I was going to Heather Reeves' funeral."

"I forgot," he said with a shrug. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked.

"Last time-"

"That was my parent's funeral and I found out they had been murdered. I have every right to be a little upset."

"You bit me!"

"You grabbed me!" Lily exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

"After you tried running off after telling me you were quitting Hogwarts." James through his hands in the air. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I don't need you looking out after me." Lily let out a small squeal of frustration, her hands going to her head, digging through the strands of hair pulled tight. "I've accepted being your friend and I know you've seen me at my worst, but that does not give you the right to-"

"Listen to me for one second." He took a step forward, running his hands through his hair. "For four years I've tried everything for to get you to notice me. And you know what Remus is right or at least half right. I need to stop joking around and leave you alone, but not because you're a nice girl. In fact you….You are an arrogant toerag!" he shouted and then laughed at throwing her own insult back at her. "Whether you believe it or not I care about. Open your damn eyes Evans! I don't know what offended you so much when I asked if you could handle it, Remus would ask you the same exact thing and you wouldn't bat an eyelash." James tuned on his heel and went up the stairs.

Lily Evans suddenly felt weak in the knees as she sat down again. James Potter may have gotten on her nerves since first year and may have been chasing after since second year...They may have had a love hate relationship, but he was always there. She knew no matter what she did he would still be in love with her...or at least that's what she thought. How badly did she screw up that even James Potter was mad at her?

An hour and a half later she was sitting besides Agatha Potter in a chapel. It was in a muggle community and the church, she had to admit, was beautiful. When she entered she promised herself she wouldn't cry, but everyone around her was tearful. Most everyone around her, though, didn't know how or why she died. Lily wanted to tell them it wasn't some car accident, that she didn't die because someone else got in a car drunk. Heather Reeves died because she married a wizard. She died because she had a son who was a wizard too.

"I'm going to speak to some of the people from the ministry, you can wait here or mingle."

Lily wiped the tears from her eyes as Agatha Potter left. As she was about to get to her feet a shadow fell over her. "Hello," she said slowly. Michael Reeves stood in front of her, towering was more like it. She could pick the boy out of the crowd easily, he was tall for his age and rather gangly.

"Why are you here?" he questioned. When she raised an eyebrow, he continued, "I didn't mean to make it sound like…"

"It's alright," Lily said.

"Because my mum died I have the license to act like an arsehole," he muttered, sitting down beside her.

"No, because if someone I barely knew showed up at my parent's funeral I would have the same reaction." Lily looked at her feet and then up again at the muggle picture of his mother. She was fairly young with light hair and laughter in her eyes. "Besides, I've been acting like an arsehole lately too."

Michael laughed. "You?"

"Yes," she told him. "My name's Lily, I didn't introduce myself."

"Micheal," he said. "And I know who you are, everyone does. Straight O Gryffindor prefect that's dating the Quidditch captain."

"I'm not dating James Potter," she quickly protested. "Far from it."

"Oh, I thought-"

"I came today, because I know how hard it is. You feel like your stomach's in knots and you could cry at the drop of the hat...Or at least that's what I feel like." She swallowed harshly as took out her hair, shaking it before putting it back up.

"I heard about your parents," Michael said. "Read about it actually. So…" he paused, looked at his hands that rested on his knees. "Does it get easier?"

"It hurts less each day, but there some days are harder than others." Lily shrugged. "If you want to owl me, you can. I'm staying with the Potters." At that she laughed. "Kind of ironic, isn't it?" She looked around and saw Agatha near the back of the church. "See you around."

"Yeah, and I'll take up on that offer."

Lily smiled as she pressed herself against the pew and he moved his long legs to the side. As she did that she wondered how preposterous it was for her to be James' girlfriend. Now, though, it did seem to be impossible and she couldn't help but appreciate the irony in the situation. When James finally proved he was a decent human being-a person she could date-she acted exactly like the type of person she hated.

She wished that things would have gone back to normal, but James was treating her like...well, like how she normally treated him. Sirius treated her the same way despite their drunken exchange earlier. It was Thursday night and Mr. Potter had been gone for nearly a week when an owl flew in.

"Is that dad?" James asked.

"No, but he did owl me earlier today, he should be home tomorrow night." Agatha looked at the three teenagers. "Are you going to tell me what's going on? I won't tell you what this owl is about until you do." She cut a piece of chicken and began to chew it slowly. "All three of you are unusually quiet."

"You know, mum, the usual stuff," James said.

"I don't know," Agatha replied, then she dropped her fork as a realization crossed her face. "You all know that your dad is going to be fine." She looked around the table. "Charles is perfectly safe," she reiterated, more herself than for anyone else's benefit. "To welcome him home we're having the Reeves over. Anthony was talking to me and I thought it would be nice to have him over. Besides, I think it would be good for him and Lily to talk again."

"Robbing the cradle?" Sirius asked, finally speaking to the redheaded witch.

"It's possible for me to be friends with him."

"Well, I hope he doesn't get too attached," James said, throwing his napkin down on his plate before pushing his chair away from the table.

"Is someone going to tell me what this is about?" Agatha questioned.

"May I be excused?" Lily asked, throwing her napkin on the plate and following James' lead.

"Aren't you going to leave?" she asked Sirius.

"Their...uh, conversations get very heated, passionate if you will. It's best if we leave them alone to work things out on their own." Sirius pushed food around his plate.

"What is going on with them?" Agatha questioned with a frown on her face. "James won't tell me anything, he only talks to you or Charles." Setting down her fork she stared at who she considered her honorary son. "Lily told me that she's not interested in James, but I thought…"

"They're both madly in love. James realized it his second year and he's waiting for Evans to come around. I don't know why he has to love a redhead, they're so stubborn." Sirius rolled his eyes then craned his neck. "Do you hear anything?"

"No…"

"Worse than I thought," he muttered. "James is being moody again, I hate when he's like this." With a frown he got up. "I assume I can be excused."

"Yes, Sirius," Agatha replied with a laugh. "Your manners are improving."

"Could you owl my family? Mummy would be so proud."

"Sirius…"

The boy had already disappeared up the steps. Agatha looked at the empty table and only hoped that Charles would be home soon.

Lily was sitting in her room before dinner on Friday. She had heard Agatha come home, but both Sirius and James went down. As she flipped through her Witches Weekly magazine there was a knock on the door. "It's Agatha, can I come in?"

"Of course." She threw the magazine on the nightstand as the door opened. Agatha was holding garment bags and a tote in the crook of her arm. "What's that?"

"We do a clothes exchange at work. Some of the girls heard about you and brought some stuff in. You don't seem like one for shopping, so I thought it was a great idea." She walked over to the bed and laid down her load. "The girls all have great taste, and a lot of them buy clothes and never wear them."

"Thanks," Lily said as she began to pick through the clothes. She came across a sweater and held it to her chest. "Lavender was my mother's favorite color."

"There is a skirt…" Agatha too began to dig through the bag, it having been magically altered to be bigger on the inside. "I always thought a deep brown looked best with it."

"Thanks," Lily said. "I could wear this tonight. Do I have enough time to change?"

"Dinner's not until six-thirty, you have plenty of time." Agatha hugged the girl without warning. "I know this has been hard for you, but I am always here to talk about anything." She smoothed the girls hair as she pulled away. "Even my son, as long as you don't provide too many details."

"Thanks, but I made a mistake with James." Lily looked down at the clothes in her arms and walked over to her trunk. "I think I took him for granted and now he's angry because I overreacted and-"

"I know my son, it's nothing more than a bruised ego."

"No, the day of the funeral I was upset and he talked with me. We fought, and I told him he wasn't my friend, in the end, though, everything seemed to work out." She sighed and set the clothes aside, looking through her trunk for a pair of shoes. "Then the day of the Reeves funeral he asked me if I could handle it and I started yelling at him, he yelled and me...Since both he and Sirius haven't been talking to me."

"Lily, I know what's going on." Agatha sat down and patted the bed.

Lily pulled out the sandles she was searching for and sat down.

"When you talked with James you were probably unrestrained, there was shouting, tears and maybe it got a little physical with shoving or hitting, am I right?"

Lily nodded.

"You don't yell at someone you don't trust." Agatha touched her knee. "Or at the very least reveal what you're really feeling. It's natural for something like this to happen, you opened up to James, but you don't want him to get to close and let him know how you feel. As for my son, he hates to admit, but he wears his heart on his sleeve."

"The only person who can get a read on him is Remus."

"I'm his mother, trust me. He acts like everything is insignificant, because he cares too much. All of his jokes, his pranks, his witty remarks and that confident attitude is an act." Agatha tilted her head back and let out a laugh. "His father and him are cut from the same cloth. But I see quite a bit of you in me, granted I never had your...spunk, but we are the type of woman that can tame the Potter men."

"I don't think James needs taming," Lily murmured, not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.

"Well, why don't you get dressed? Dinner's going to start soon enough."