AN: Hi everyone, I hope you all like my story so far! I would love to hear some feedback! :) - Black-lightningrunes-13 x

Chapter 6

After that first night of returning home from Hogwarts, Lily's holidays had been pretty uneventful. She remained at her house most days either lounging around watching TV or sitting underneath the large tree in her backyard reading. She had written back and forth to Marlene and Alice on numerous occasions both now knowing about Petunia's engagement to the whale. Both her friends had been up to something so far. Marlene had gone away with her family for a bit, while Alice had caught up with frank on numerous occasions. Turns out meeting franks mum hadn't been to bad because she actually liked Alice. Not that Lily ever doubted she wouldn't. Alice was just too lovable!

It was a nice morning outside so Lily was lying underneath the tree with Pride and Prejudice in her hands. On days like this she used to go to the park around the corner but she couldn't. Not anymore. Knowing full well whom she might run into. So instead, she trapped herself at home. She envied her friends because they had been able to get out and do things, whereas she had not. Desperate for a cup of coffee she got up and headed to the kitchen. Walking past the lounge room she spotted her dad sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

"Hey dad,"

"oh, hi Lils," David said looking up from his paper, "let me guess, coffee?"

"Yup,"

"You know it's really bad how addicted you are,"

"Nah perfectly healthy. And I do believe you gave me my first coffee. So the fault is all yours," sticking out her tongue, Lily got to work of making a coffee.

After she made it, she went and sat down opposite her dad. Curling into a ball on the sofa, she continued to read and drink her coffee. She loved moments like these. When her and her dad could just sit in peace reading, in the open space filled with sunlight from outside.

The doorbell rang, and Lily looked up in surprise. She didn't think they were expecting anyone today. "Dad, are we expecting anyone today?" she asked him.

"Not that I know of. Can you go get it? Your mum and sister are both out at the moment."

"Sure dad"

Lily got up and wandered down the hallway to her front door. She wondered who it could be and she desperately hoped it wasn't one of those annoying people wanting them to sign up for something.

Opening the door she had someone tackle her into a hug screaming, "LILY!"

Smothered by the persons body she was still able to recognize who it was for she could hear someone else's laughter from the other side of the person in front of her. When the person moved away she could finally see her guests. Standing in front of her were Alice and Marlene.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Lily asked as she moved forward to give Alice a hug.
Smiling Alice told her friend, "Do you think we're idiots? From your letters both of us could tell how bored you were. So we decided we would come visit!"

"Yeah, plus you really need to get out of the house!" Marlene continued, "So here's the plan, we're heading to Diagon Alley, and both of you are coming back to mine!"

"Oh really now? And was anyone going to ask my opinion?" Lily asked them, though smiling at the fact they were both actually there.

"No, now why would we do that?" Marlene asked innocently.

Shaking her head Lily invited them both inside.
"Dad, look who stopped by," she said as she reached the lounge room.

"Girls, Hi! I didn't realised you were coming,"

"Yeah, it was a surprise for Lils here," Alice said as she gave David a hug.

"Dad, these two idiots here, have asked if I wanted to go shopping in Diagon Alley with them and then go stay at Marlene's place. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is! It will be good to get you out of the house. All you've done is either sat in here watching TV or reading, drinking coffee!" At this both Alice and Marlene smirked at Lily.

"Thanks Dad!"

"Sure no problem kiddo. How long will you be gone for?"

"Uhh no clue, Marlene?" she asked looking at her friend.

"As long as you want! My parents don't mind at all. At least stay for two."

"Awesome. Dad that okay?"

"Sure, Lils, just write a note for your mum and leave it on the kitchen bench. Knowing me I'll forget and your mum will kill both of us."

Lily laughed, "Don't worry Dad, I'm already one step ahead of you."

This was true. Once her dad had agreed, Lily had moved into the kitchen and began writing a note to leave for her mum. It read:

Mum,

Alice and Marlene stopped by to surprise me.

We've headed into Diagon Alley to do some shopping and Marlene has invited me to stay at hers for at least two nights. Might be longer but if I am, I'll come home and let you know.

Love you lots and if you need me, owl me. Peggie is upstairs.

Lily

xx

The three girls were up in Lil's room as she rummaged through her clothing to pack stuff for staying at Marlene's but also to find a cute outfit to wear into Diagon Alley. She also was looking for the handbag she wanted to take. It was a medium sized black shoulder back with two pockets on the outside. Not that any of this mattered, since the bag itself had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it allowing Lily to put as much as she required into it.

As Lily moved around her room like crazy, Alice and Marlene parked themselves onto Lily's bed and kept the conversation going between the three of them.

"So Lily, you said you wanted to go to Diagon Alley. Any particular reason?" Alice asked her.

"Not really, there are a few books I'm interested in picking up, and I'm really craving some butterbeer. But other than that I just figured we could look around."

"Sure okay, I'm in need of quills and parchment as well. I know its early to get it, but its only a few weeks before we head back to school and I would prefer to get most stuff before the mad rush of all students," Alice told them.

"Why am I friends with such nerds?" Marlene asked jokingly, "I agree with the butterbeer idea though!"

"Nearly done guys," Lily said as she put her bag on the bed, "does this look okay?"

"Woah Lily you look gorgeous!" Alice exclaimed.

Looking at Lily, she was wearing a pair of dark blue straight leg jeans that hugged her, with a black singlet and a loose knitted jumper on top. It was simple but it was perfect for Lily. She had tied her long wavy hair into a loose ponytail and stuck some eye make up on.

"Damn girl! How is it that you can have such a simple outfit and look amazing?" Marlene commented to Lily.

"Thanks guys. Okay let's head downstairs. I'll say goodbye to my dad and we can go. Apparate straight into the Leaky Cauldron?" Lily asked.

"Yeah that's probably easiest"

~~~/~~~

Heading down for breakfast James found that he was the last one down there. Already sitting at the table was both his parents and Sirius. This surprised him on two occasions. The first was that Sirius was actually up before him and the second being that both his parents were still at home.

"Uhh hi everyone," he announced himself.

"Oh look who it is! Sleepy head is finally awake!" Sirius laughed.

"Oi you can't talk. Pretty sure that in the past six years we have either shared the same dorm or you stayed at my place, I have woken up before you!"
"Yes, but not today. Hence, I can call you sleepy head!"

"Doesn't work like that!"

"Sure it does!"

"Boys!" Linda interrupted them, "Quiet, please."

"Sorry mum," they replied sheepishly.

"So why are you both still here?" James asked as he sat down, grabbing some pancakes off the plate in front of him.

"Well, we decided to take the day off work to spend it with both of you. It's not often we get to do it anymore," Nathaniel told his son.

"Oh really? Awesome!" Sirius exclaimed.

"So what are we going to do?" James asked, also looking forward to spending some time with his family.

"Well we thought that we could sped some time here this morning. Perhaps have a picnic for lunch in the gardens? But head into Diagon Alley later to do some shopping and go to the leaky cauldron." Linda told the boys.

"That sounds like a great plan mum," James told her, "but first lets play some exploding snap!"

"Oh you're on Prongs!"

Linda just laughed at her sons, "Fine, but not near anything good! I will personally kill you of something gets destroyed."

The four spent a few hours playing different games including exploding snap, but eventually stopped when Linda and Nathaniel needed to break up the boys from getting into an all out war. Not that they weren't already in one, it was more Linda was worried about some of her pieces of furniture and the carpet beneath them.

"So lunch?" Sirius asked once he and James had to clean up their messes.

"Always thinking about your stomach Padfoot," James said shaking his head mockingly while hitting Sirius on the stomach.

"You wanna start something?" Sirius dived onto James. They began rolling along the floor, hitting each other and messing up each other's hair.

"Oi! Not the hair!" Sirius yelled.

Linda went to stop the 'fight' but she felt a hand on her arm. Looking up at her husband she smiled.

"Leave them," he told her, "let's go get the food for lunch."

Together, hand in hand, they walked to the kitchen to help Jenni get some food together.

When Sirius and James eventually stopped they looked around and found that they were alone. Smiling at each other they said at the same time, "that's all your fault!"

Both just cracked up laughing. After about five minutes of laughing, they stood to go find Linda and Nathaniel. Knowing to head tithe kitchen James and Sirius the whole way kept shoving and laughing so eventually they stumbled their way through the kitchen doorway.

Sitting behind the counter with a cup of coffee in their hands watching the boys was Linda. She just smiled and shook her head.

"Come on you two. Your dad is outside setting things up."

The three walked outside together to see that Nathaniel had a picnic blanket on the ground with plenty of food in it.

"You know," James began, "you would think you were trying to fatten us up."

Nathaniel just laughed, "I don't think that's possible. The amount that you two eat and still look the way you do. I dot know how you do it!"

Sirius and James snuck a quick look and smiled, then Sirius responded, "Well we have to stay fit for quidditch!"

It was roughly around two when Linda said that they should head to Diagon Alley. Calling Jenni out to clean the mess, the four of them apparated into the Leaky Cauldron.

"So what are we doing first?" James asked

"Let's go looking around first and we'll come back here later," Linda told them before heading out into Diagon Alley. On her way past she acknowledged Tom the barkeeper.

The three boys, or really men, looked at each other and just shrugged smiling. They knew it was best to do as Linda said and follow her.

They went through different shops, picking up some quills at Amanuensis Quills, and James and Sirius dragged Linda and Nathaniel into Broomstix to check out the latest dragon skin protection gear as well as the newest Cleans weep broom.

Eventually Linda had to literally drag the boys away from the shop and all the way to Eeylops Owl Emporium.

"Umm mum, what are we doing here?" James asked.

"Well your father and I have spoken and we have decided to buy Sirius his own owl."

"Wait what?!" Sirius was surprised.

"Well why wouldn't we dear?" Linda addressed him, "it's only fair. James has Apollo and Nathan and I share Diego, so we thought it was time you ha your own instead of borrowing ours."

"Aww you guys seriously don't have to!"

"Of course we don't son," Nathan said, "but we want to."

Sirius jumped onto both Nathan and Linda giving, wrapping his arms around both of them.

"Thanks so much guys!"

Linda just laughed, "Any time Sirius. Now go. Pick an owl."

Sirius went into the shop, with James close behind him. There were owls everywhere. Some were resting while others were flying above. They went to every corner of the shop just scanning seeing if there were any that caught his eye. While James looked around he didn't really spot any that could match up to his owl Apollo. Apollo had been James' gift just before he went to Hogwarts. He was more than just a pet who delivered mail. He was also a friend and would keep him company when he needed it.

It didn't take long for Sirius to pick out an owl. Though in a way this owl had picked him. The tawny owl had flew over and perched itself on Sirius' shoulder.

"Hey Prongs! Check this out!"

James turned to find Sirius beaming at him with an owl on his shoulder.

"How the hell did you manage that?" James asked him

"I swear I didn't do anything! It just landed on me!"

"Let me guess, that's the one you want?"

"Hells yeah!"

James just shook his head, "Alright then. My parents are just over there. Let's go."

"So what are you naming him?" Linda asked as they left the shop.

"Hmm," Sirius pondered, "I'm thinking Maximilian. Or just Max for short,"

"That's a good name!" Linda remarked.

Sirius was nodding, about to respond to Linda when something caught his eye down the street.

"Oh no way!" He said to himself before saying aloud, "hold on one second," before walking down the alley.

"Lily-flower!" he called out.

~~~/~~~

Lily, Alice and Marlene were walking down Diagon Alley when all of a sudden Lily heard, "Lily-flower!"

She stopped walking, because she wasn't really sure of he had had ears anything or not.

"what's wrong?" Alice asked noticing her friend had stopped.

"I swear I just heard - oh no," she started as she looked around her. Looking behind she saw Sirius black walking down the street towards them.

"What? Ohhh," Alice said noticing who was coming towards them.

"Black!" Marlene exclaimed as she saw him. She moved towards him to give him a hug.

"Uh what's with the owl?" Lily asked, finally getting over the shock that he was there and noticing what he was holding.

"A gift!"

"Who the hell would be stupid enough to give you an owl, meaning you would actually have to look after something," Marlene joked.

"That would be us Marlene."

"Linda! Nathan! Hi there!" Marlene exclaimed as she spotted them walking towards their group.

"Uh mar, who are they?" Lily asked under her breath."

"You'll see," she responded before embracing Linda and Nathan.

Alice and lily stood back and watched the exchanges take place. They wondered how Marlene knew these people and why Sirius had the biggest grin on his face while he kept cutting looks at lily. She kept sending questioning looks at him until she noticed another person join the group. Standing behind the couple that Marlene was embracing was James Potter. She just stood there shocked, not knowing what to say.

"Hi there," he said smiling at them. He couldn't take his eyes off Lily. She looked gorgeous. Even though he thought she was always beautiful, there was something about her today that just took his breath away.

"James, care to make introductions," Linda interrupted his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh right. Mum, Dad this is Alice Prewitt and Lily Evans. Alice, Evans these are my parents."

Lily just stood there. These were James Potter's parents? Oh god this is really weird. She heard Alice say, "Hi there its really nice to meet you. I'm Alice," which brought her out of her thoughts. "Umm hi. I'm Lily. It's nice to meet you," she said softly and nervously but still put her out her hand.

"It's very nice to meet you both," Mrs Potter said shaking her hand, "please call me Linda and this is Nathan. We've heard so much about you." Lily blushed when she heard this.

"Mum!" James complained while Sirius and Marlene just laughed. Even Alice had a smile on her face.

"What it's true?" Linda commented with a smile on her face.

"Stop it darling, you're embarrassing them," Nathan said laughing. James' face had gone bright red and so had Lily's.

Sirius couldn't help himself. He was laughing so hard at both James and Lily, "Look at you both! You've gone bright red!"

"Shut up Black!"

"Shut up Padfoot!

They both yelled at the exact same time, which made Sirius crack up laughing even more.

To change the subject Alice asked, "So what brings you guys here?"

"Well we thought we would spend the day together. With Nathan and I always at work there isn't a lot of time we can all spend together," Linda replied.

"Aw that's really sweet!" Alice cooed.

"Yeah," Linda smiled, "what about you three?"

"Yes, what brings you three lovely ladies here?" Sirius asked finally stopping his laughter, "especially with Lily-flower looking so beautiful!"

The blood that had left Lily's cheeks began to rise again as Sirius complimented her.

"Sirius!" Linda scolded, while the others laughed, "leave the poor girl alone!"

Marlene who was used to the present company finally answered the question to get the attention off of Lily, "Well we thought we would do a girls outing. Lily hadn't gotten out of her house so Alice and I decided to make a surprise visit. They're both staying at mine tonight."

"That sounds lovely," Linda said smiling, "how about you join us for dinner? We were planning on either the leaky cauldron or heading back to our house."

"That would be great!" Marlene responded, after she looked at Lily and Alice for confirmation. Both had just nodded, Lily a little less enthusiastically.

"Linda, perhaps we should leave the kids for a bit," Nathan suggested, "I'm sure the five of them don't want to be accompanied by us oldies all afternoon."

"That's true. Okay James," she said turning to him, "let's say meet back here in maybe 2 hours. We'll figure out what we shall do then."

James just nodded in response.

"And Marlene, we'll let your parents know the three of you are with us, so they don't get worried."

"Thanks Linda!"

Hand in hand they watched as Linda and Nathan walked away.

"James! I love your parents!" Alice said enthusiastically when they had been a distance away.

James laughed, "Thanks Al, they are pretty great aren't they? So what did we want to do?"

Marlene and Sirius just looked at each other before turning to the others as saying, "Ice Cream!"

It was decided then that they would head to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and sit there to catch up with one another.

James just sat there and listened. They all talked about various things, especially what they had already done on the break. He himself had contributed but had mainly let Sirius and Marlene keep up all the talking. Lily had also been as quiet as him, he had been watching her fidget with her napkin while they all spoke. He was thinking about something he could say thy would bring her into the conversation more when Marlene turned and said, "hey Lils, how are things going? With your sister and the big plans?"

What was Marlene talking about? Lily has a sister?

James watched as Lily gave Marlene an annoyed looked before knowing she would have to respond as she was being looked at by everyone who were waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, they're okay. Not a lot has been planned though. Thank god. But the whale is always there and Petunia keeps reminding me not to be a 'freak'," she responded.

James was really confused now. What did she mean by not to be a freak?

"Would someone care to explain?" Sirius inquired, as James was not the only one out of the loop, but James knew better than to inquire into Lily's life.

Lily just rolled her eyes, "My sister got engaged to this whale called Vernon Dursley."

"You have a sister?"

Well at least I'm not the only one who didn't know, James thought.

"Yeah I do, she's older and obviously non-magical,"

"Oh wow. So what's with the reminder to not be a freak?"

"Well me and her used to be really close. At least until I found out I was a witch. Now, to her, I'm just a freak because I can perform magic"

"What the hell?!" James exploded.

Everyone just looked at him in shock. No one was expecting the outburst.

"Wha-" James began, before he was cut off by a high pitched squeal.

The group spun immediately to see a large group of people walking down the alley. They were quite a distance around but it was clear that they were wearing black cloaks and masks. But what had made people scream were the bodies of people dangling in the air, hanging by their ankles.

"What the -" James started.

Lily watched as they moved around but turning back to the direction she was originally looking to see there were more figures walking down from the other direction.

"Uh guys, there are more," she had been the one who had interrupted James.

Around the group, mothers had begun to hide their children while some of the older wizards and witches stepped forward with their wands raised. As soon as these people had, they were on the ground withering in pain. Their screams filled the streets, causing more people to step away. Even from the distance Lily could hear a certain curse she never thought she would hear, the words of the cruciatus curse.

"What on earth are we supposed to do?" Marlene muttered under her breath.

"What can we do?" Alice responded.

"We need to do something!" Sirius exclaimed.

All of a sudden fires began blazing around them.

"Oh shit!" James said frantically, "it's fiendfyre! We are stuck right in the middle of this and there are kids and families everywhere. Look where we are!"

James was right. Since they were sitting outside an ice cream parlour all around them were kids. Those who had been outside had ducked underneath their table, while looking inside many were doing the same. Some of the groups surrounding them had no adult supervision and were kids of 10 maybe 11 years old. Moving quickly he went to them.

"Shh, it's going to be okay. Just going inside with the rest of the people and stay down. Do you know where your parents are?" he asked them.

One of the boys nodded, "yeah they went to buy robes and were going to meet us back here,"

James nodded, "okay, then just stay here. I assume you're in charge of this lot?"

"Yeah, they're my family,"

"Okay, then please just do what I say and go inside quickly."

James ushered them in before looking around. Alice, Lily, Marlene and Sirius had all risen and held their wands in their hands. Standing as a group they looked out at the scene around them. The fire had spread onto the buildings surrounding where it had begun and the figures that were covered had too spread out blocking anyone from fleeing the alley. People could still disapparate away, as no anti-disapparition jinx had been put into place, but with children and families separated as they had done their shopping many would not leave.

Cries and screams of terror filled Lily's ears as she looked out at the scene around her. She was scared right down to her core, but she had to do something, anything to help the people around her. To help the children around her! These figures, whoever they were had something seriously wrong with them.

"Guys we have to try and stay together, who knows what could happen if we get separated," she told them.

"Evans is right, we protect each other," James agreed.

"So do we have a plan or what?" Sirius asked.

They stood silently trying to come up with something in the short amount of time they had before the people were right next to them.

"Okay, here's what we do…" James started.