I haven't been getting reviews :( It really means so much to me. I know you might think that I don't notice, or don't care, but even the smallest "cute story" or "excited to see how it goes" means more to me than a hundred-carat diamond. Feedback is what I live for. Please.

Anyway, things are about to complicate. Also, everyone's favorite rebel is about to make an appearance.

No, not me. Hold your applause. Anyways…

James woke up miserable.

He rubbed his neck, trying to get the crick out. He looked behind him, and inhaled deeply.

Never in his life did he imagine he'd be lucky enough to have Lily Evans sleeping next to him.

Okay, she wasn't really next to him, she was curled up on the backseat of the minivan. But even with bedhead and drool running down her porcelain skin, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was almost a shame he had to wake her up.

He gently rocked her shoulder. "Hey, wake up, Evans." Evans! he mentally cursed himself. You want her to like you, idiot!

Lily yawned. "What time is it?"

James looked at his watch. "Seven-thirty."

She wrinkled her nose at him in disgust. "Why do you hate me?"

Oh, if only you knew… "This is when normal people wake up, my Lily-blossom."

Is she blushing?! "I am not your Lily-blossom, Potter!"

"Oh, so we're back to Potter, now?"

"We certainly are when you call me ridiculous names!"

James turned around, rubbing his neck. "Never again. I will never again sleep in this blasted van."

"I thought this van was not to be berated?"

"The van itself is a semi-reliable vehicle. However, she was not designed with the comfort of tired young people in mind."

"That's true," Lily yawned, rumpling her hair. "So, we're off to Exeter today?"

"Um… We're going to make a bit of a detour."

"Potter! I thought we were going straight home! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why in such a rush to arrive? Missing your mum and dad?"

Lily turned away. What did I say? "Lily? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing."

"It obviously isn't nothing. But I'm going to let it go, for now."

"Anyway, Potter, you've been misleading me. Why aren't we going right to Exeter?"

"We're taking a couple days' worth of detour to go north, sightsee… and pick up Sirius."

"There is no way in hell I am staying in a car with you and Black both for another two days."

James smiled cheekily at Lily. "Then I advise you start walking."

Lily was still sulking by the time they reached Liverpool.

"Why are we even getting Sirius? Isn't he spending the holidays with his family?"

James grimaced. "Well, he'd rather not spend his break with an abusive family, so I'm taking him to my family's place."

Lily clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God, I am so sorry. I thought- well, it doesn't matter. I am so, so sorry for my behavior. I would be glad to have Sirius around."

James looked sideways at her. "Well, don't tell Sirius I'd tell you, he'd have my head."

She laughed at him, a sound he never wanted to stop hearing. It wasn't even a particularly beautiful laugh, just a genuine outburst of feeling. He smiled back at her. Crap, I'm being to obvious, have to divert her attention- "So, after the unfortunate events of last night, I took the liberty of calling Sirius and asking him to book a motel for the night, since he's got an inheritance from some dead uncle. He did it, but being Sirius, booked it in York, because there's some cathedral he wants to see."

"Wow, I wouldn't have pegged Black as a religious bloke."

"He's not. He wants to go because of the architecture."

"That's what he's studying, then? I got the impression he only came to university to pick up tarts."

"Most people do. But he's a prodigy, and really cares about architecture. So we're going to go see the York Minister to cheer him up. Last I called, he didn't sound so hot."

"Well, I've actually wanted to see it, too, so this an exciting opportunity for me. Where does Black live, anyway?"

"His family has this God-awful holiday home on the outskirts of the city. You'll be seeing it soon, it's pretty hard to miss. It's enormous, and it's the most hideous house you've ever seen. Actually, that might have been how he got a love for well-designed buildings- he grew up in the ugliest of the lot."

Lily leaned forward in her seat. "Dear God, that really is the most hideous house."

It truly was. Bitterwood Estate seemed to have been built in stages- and each stage an example of the worst architectural styles of the times. It seemed a wild mix of flying buttresses, sandstone bricks, and patios, patios, patios on all sides of the house.

"Right, so Sirius's door will be the one with the bike poster on it," James said, pulling the minivan up the driveway. "Walburga and Orion are at a benefit until two, so we have about fifteen minutes to get Sirius safely out of Bitterwood without Regulus noticing."

"Wait- we're kidnapping him? And who the bloody hell is Regulus?"

"To the first one: yes, kind of. But it's for an excellent cause. And to the second, Regulus is Sirius's perfect little brother. He studies chemistry with Snivellus at the university."

You complete and total ass! James cursed himself as he saw Lily's pale face flush at the mention of Snape. She's never going to get over him if you keep mentioning him in casual conversation! "Sorry," he said.

"It's fine," she said, shaking her head. James parked his minivan behind the gardener's shed and opened the door. "Let's go rescue Sirius."