AN: Hi, just wanted to say thank you so much for the nice review! Enjoy!

"Come ooooon, Lily, please let's go to the party. It'll be fun."

Lily had attempted that morning to explain to Sam her reasons for not wanting to be around James Potter and his brood, but it hadn't gotten Sam to back down.

"An hour," Lily finally said, because she was weak and Sam was her guest and they never saw each other, and she'd made the huge effort to come halfway across the world to be with Lily. And if Sam wanted to go to the damn party, Lily could suck it up for a little while.

"Two," Sam responded.

"One and a half, and we'll see how it goes," Lily relented. Knowing she'd probably stay as long as Sam wanted her to. Though Sam was always quick to make friends, she'd hit it off with someone and then Lily wouldn't feel so bad about ducking out early and waiting for Sam elsewhere in the resort.

Sam grinned. "You've got a deal."

They spent the morning walking around the city, with Sam stopping every two seconds to take pictures, even though Lily didn't find Vigo that picturesque. Lily and Grandpa Phil had had to pull a lot of strings to make sure that Lily and Sam would have identical work schedules so that they could go do touristy things on their days off together.

"This place is fucking killing me, Lily. How do you do this every fucking day?" Sam complained after they'd been out a couple of hours. She was talking about the incredibly steep streets of Vigo. Lily empathised with the girl, though she'd gotten used to the climbs after a while.

"Just think about how good your calves will look when you get back home."

They eventually headed back to the flat so they could wash up and get ready for the party. At least Lily would get to swim today, a small silver lining. She could only hope Potter meant the low-key thing.

Lily was just waiting for Sam to finish getting ready when she noticed her grandmother pajama-clad, curled up into a ball on a corner of the couch.

"Abuelita, are you okay?" Lily asked delicately, sitting down next to her.

Grandma Elena turned to look at Lily, her eyes were red-rimmed. She took Lily's hand in hers, patted it. "I'm okay, baby."

Lily really fucking hated seeing her grandmother cry, it only made her want to cry. "Tell me what happened, please."

Grandma Elena glanced at the phone sitting on the coffee table. She brought her hand to her face, rubbed her temples. "It's silly... I called Petu."

Petu was Petunia's pet name with their Spanish-speaking family. Of course this was Petunia's doing.

"What did she say?" Lily asked, trying to remain calm. She would not remind her grandmother that Lily had explicitly said to stop trying to convince Petunia to visit.

Grandma Elena waved a hand dismissively. "Same thing as always. She can't come, she's busy. It's okay, I only wish she wouldn't get so... angry with me for asking."

Lily had to focus so she wouldn't grip her grandmother's hand too hard. "Ignore her. She doesn't mean it, she's just got a temper. And it only gets worse when she's with Grandma Pauline."

Lily didn't love badmouthing one of her grandmothers in front of the other, but Grandma Pauline was somehow even more of a bitch than Petunia. It was just a fact of life.

Grandma Elena let out a small sigh. "I know she doesn't mean it. I only wish she realised I want to see her because I love her." She gave Lily a final pat on the knee. "I'll just turn on my novela and I'll be just fine. You get ready to go to your party."

Lily glanced down at herself. She was wearing a black one-piece bathing suit, one of her father's old guayaberas open over it, and a pair of light-wash jean shorts. "I am ready."

Grandma Elena frowned. "No makeup?"

"It's a pool party, abuelita."

"Well, that's why they invented waterproof mascara, Lily." Oh yeah, the woman would be just fine. "And I don't know why you insist on wearing your father's old shirts, I've bought you so many pretty dresses. Your father is in your heart you don't need him on your back all the time."

This was not the first time this had come up.

Lily had learned that there was a clear spectrum of grief under which people fell. At one end were the people who wanted to get rid of every one of their loved ones' things, and at the other end were the ones who held on to every little item as if it would bring them back to life. Grandma Elena leaned more towards the former group, Lily towards the latter.

It wasn't an unhealthy thing. Lily didn't keep all her parents' stuff. Most of it had been given away to charity, but for some reason, Lily found it really hard to get rid of their clothes. But it was hard to haul her own clothes plus both her parents' clothes through countries after she had to leave Mexico, and so she'd chosen to get rid of a bunch of her own clothes, and started wearing her parents' clothes. Maybe it was a tiny bit morbid, some people definitely thought it was weird, but she liked it. It made her feel close to them. And it wasn't like she only wore their clothes, so it was not weird!

But no matter how many times Lily said she liked her father's old shirts and saw no reason why they should rot away in storage, Grandma Elena did not share that opinion. They argued about Lily's clothes for a little while more before Sam was finally ready and Lily practically grabbed the girl and ran before her grandmother forced her to change or put makeup on.

They took the bus to the resort, which still left them with about a kilometre-long walk to reach the place.

Lily looked at her friend and thought she honestly wouldn't blame Potter if he was into her. Sam was so fucking beautiful, tall and toned, with dewy bronze skin. More than one man on the bus had almost popped an eye out of its socket looking at her in her mini-skirt and crop top.

Lily hadn't wanted to talk about it with Sam, but she'd gotten the impression yesterday that Sam had very much liked James. And boys always liked Sam back. Always.

It would be a pity if Sam wanted to spend more time around Potter, but Lily supposed it was fine. She'd just have to sacrifice some of her precious time with her friend. But if it'd make Sam happy, Lily could bear it.

Sirius opened the door when they arrived at the house. His eyes glazed over Sam appreciatively and Lily almost gagged.

"Hey," Sirius drawled, with a lazy grin on his face.

Sam didn't seem entirely disgusted by him. "Hello."

"And what might your name be, love?"

What a fucking douche.

"Sam."

"Gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl."

He hadn't so much as glanced at Lily.

"Are you going to let us in at some point?" Lily cut in.

Finally, he seemed to realise Lily was there too. He opened the door wider and motioned for them to come in. "Everyone's out back."

Potter hadn't lied. There couldn't be more than ten people in his backyard, mostly kids who stayed at the resort, and not even the more despicable ones.

James was at the grill, clearly focused on whatever meat he had cooking.

Sam dragged Lily over to say hi. He glanced up from the grill, gave them a soft smile, and a short greeting before going back to what he was doing.

It felt weird. Potter was always so... animated, and he could never shut up. In fact, now that Lily thought about it, he'd also seemed somewhat subdued yesterday. And as much as Lily appreciated not having to deal with his... Potterness, it was eerie seeing him so quiet, and she did not like it.

Lily and Sam sat on the loungers next to the pool. They said hello to some of Potters' friends, but Sirius Black wasted no time on sidling up next to Sam, and monopolising her attention.

Lily had to stop herself from letting out a dramatic sigh. "I'm going into the pool. Are you... good with him?"

Sam turned to Lily, her eyes glinted in delight. She nodded enthusiastically.

Lazily, Lily took off her outer clothes to leave only her black one-piece on. She'd had this swimming suit for a while, and her chest had definitely outgrown it, but it was still a somewhat decent fit.

She waded into the water. Only two other people were inside, chatting in one corner. Lily didn't really feel like swimming so she took one of the pool floats—an inflatable slice of pizza, and laid down.

She stared up at the clear blue skies for a while, trying to relax. But it was hard. She felt like she couldn't let her guard down here. Well, at least no one was bothering her.

Until she saw it.

At first she thought any old bird, maybe a seagull or something, but then, as it got closer, she realised it couldn't be. She took off her sunglasses and squinted up at the sky.

It was an owl. And it was heading right for the Potters' house.

Why the hell an owl would be flying around in the middle of the day under the hot sun, Lily had no idea. She couldn't remember ever seeing an owl in real life before. It was quite majestic, actually.

The bird flew straight through the open window of one of the upstairs bedrooms. It was... weird, to say the least.

Lily lowered her gaze and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the owl, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the skies.

She wondered if she should alert James to the large bird that had just flown into his house. It'd probably be the right thing to do. But something stopped her.

Because this was yet another weird thing with Potter in only two days. She wanted to know what the hell was going on. Exactly what type of weirdo he was.

And the only way to do that... would be snooping. The Lily of two years ago who had only started working at the resort would've said she would never snoop on a guest, but the Lily who had already been working here for two years had learned that it was never wrong to snoop around the shit rich people left lying around, as long as she didn't get caught. Her rule of thumb was if they left it out in plain sight, then it was fair game. If they didn't want the staff to see it, they could put it away.

So, very casually, Lily made her way out of the pool, put her sandals on and after a quick dry-off, she declared to a very distracted Sam that she was going to the bathroom.

But as she walked into the house, she realised that her plans would be thwarted. There were voices coming from the living room. She couldn't snoop when there were people right there.

Listen, Lily really wasn't usually so nosey. Yeah, sure she loved some hot goss, but she didn't go out looking for it. She was just a... curious person. She saw a mystery and she wanted to solve it.

So, she should not be judged too harshly. She hid behind the wall that separated the living room from the game room that faced the backyard. And she eavesdropped on James's parents.

"I'm only worried he's not coping."

"He's fine, Euphemia. He's a Potter, he's strong."

"He's just a kid, Monty."

"Well, I'd far rather he do this than sit around wallowing."

Fuck. Lily couldn't do it. They were clearly talking about something personal, and that was not the kind of information she was looking for. She moved out of her hiding spot.

"Buenas tardes," Lily said, walking into the living room. Smiling like she hadn't heard a word they just said.

Both Mr and Mrs Potter smiled warmly at her. They were both around Lily's grandparents' age, which was a bit jarring.

"Oh, aren't you Phil's girl? Lily, is it?" Mrs Potter asked.

Lily nodded. "Yes, he's my grandfather."

"Well, it's very nice to finally meet you. I didn't know you were friends with James."

Lily couldn't tell this woman that she absolutely was not friends with her son, and she was only here because her best friend had dragged her. So, she settled for putting on her best fake smile and saying, "Yeah, we're... friendly."

"Well, you should come along the next time we have Phil and Elena over for lunch."

Oh god. Lily was aware that these lunches happened once or twice in the summer, but she thought she was fairly safe from having to attend. Still, she kept the polite smile on her face. "Sure, that would be nice. I was just heading to the bathroom," she added, hoping she wouldn't get roped into anything else if she stayed there.

"Of course, dear, it's just down the hall. Very nice to meet you," Mrs Potter said.

And Lily made her way into the bathroom, knowing her mission had no hope now.

When she made her way out to the yard again, everyone was already sitting down to eat.

James, still at the grill, called her over.

"Can you help me bring this to the table?" He asked.

Lily glanced at the big plate of meat he was holding. "What kind of meat is this?"

"Some picaña, vacío, chorizo," he said, pointing to each thing. "Oh, and I got Sam something special."

Lily's eyes widened when she saw them. Tortillas. Glorious perfectly yellow tortillas. "Those look... real. Where the hell did you get them?"

James grinned. "I would hope they look real, and I know a guy."

Lily had to seriously stop herself from grabbing the front of his shirt and threatening him so he would tell her exactly where he got those. Finding a good tortilla in Spain was near impossible. Something she did not consider until she'd left Mexico. Imagine the shock, the horror, the first time she attempted to procure a tortilla in Spain and they gave her a fucking potato omelette.

But she bit her tongue. She didn't need any favours from James Potter. She'd find out herself. "That's nice," she said, taking the plate from him.

Lily sat next to Sam, who didn't seem to realise how amazing it was that they had tortillas. But the girl had been here one day, within the next few days she'd absolutely start feeling the need.

Lily immediately ripped a piece of tortilla and took a bite. Hm. It wasn't the best she'd ever eaten, but it was acceptable. She would definitely eat them. Her excitement did die down a little bit though. She set about making herself a little taco with picaña meat and it wasn't until she looked around the table with the senseless instinct of reaching for some salsa that she noticed James Potter was staring at her.

He looked away in a (slow) second, but he'd clearly been staring. It was not the first time he'd done that, but it always annoyed Lily when he did it. It put her on edge. She had no idea why he did it, which only made it worse.

She continued with her meal, trying her best to ignore James.

And fuck. The food was really good. Like really fucking good.

Suddenly, she didn't even mind that Sirius was hogging all of Sam's attention because Lily was way too busy chewing to talk to her friend.

Still, she tried to act normal. Wouldn't want Potter to notice how much she liked the food he made. She'd never hear the end of it.

Lily nudged Sam in the ribs once she'd finished eating. "It's been almost two hours," Lily pointed out quietly.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Do not leave me here, Lily Evans. We can go in fifteen minutes, I swear."

Fuck.

Obviously, Lily wouldn't leave if Sam asked her to stay. Even if she had no idea what Sam needed her there for when she was clearly hitting it off with Sirius.

Lily went to sit on a lounger to wait for Sam to be done. Her eyelids felt heavy. God, she'd become such a Spaniard, she could barely keep her eyes open after eating nowadays.

She was just about to give in and let her eyelids shut, when she felt someone sit down beside her.

Potter. Of course.

"You liked the food?"

Lily didn't move from her position, only glanced at James out of the corner of her eye. Then closed her eyes again. "It was okay."

James didn't seem to take it to heart. "Sam didn't seem too impressed by the tortillas."

"That's because she's never stared scarcity in the face before." Lily took a breath. "She also prefers flour tortillas. We're northerners."

"We?"

"Well, we're from the same city, so yes. Though I don't discriminate when it comes to tortillas, I love both flour and maize equally. Don't tell Sam though."

"And what city might that be?"

What was with all the questions? Did he seriously not know? In her head, everyone knew exactly where she was from. "Tijuana, Baja California."

"Well, that explains your fucked-up accent."

And there he was, ladies and gents. Good old James Potter had finally reared his dumbed head out. Lily wouldn't say she missed this side of him, but it was somewhat comforting to know he was still the same person inside, despite his weird new attitude.

She opened her eyes. "It's not fucked up."

It was though. She knew that. She hadn't really noticed until a few years ago when it was pointed out to her. When she spoke in Spanish, she spoke in a mixture of Spanish and Mexican accents, which could veer more towards the Spanish when she was talking to a Spaniard, but would revert almost completely back to Mexican when she was talking to a Mexican person. She was surprised James even noticed it since she rarely spoke Spanish in his presence.

James laid back on his lounger. "They seem to be hitting it off," he said, nodding towards Sam and Sirius, who were chatting by the pool, looking completely engrossed with one another.

"It's weird," Lily said.

"Why is it weird? I think it's cute."

Lily scoffed. "Isn't there some sort of weird bro code about not going for the girl your mate is into?"

James frowned. He took a few seconds to respond. "Do you think that... I'm into Sam?"

He said it as if it was the most far-fetched thing Lily could've thought of. "Well, you two—" She cut herself off. She was having one of those moments where she could only think of a fitting expression in Spanish. She had to stop and rephrase in her head. "You two seemed pretty chummy yesterday, that's all."

James seemed inexplicably amused by this. "Shit... are you jealous, Evans?"

Lily slid her sunglasses on. "Shut up, Potter."

"You don't have to worry, Lily. You have seniority over Sam. You're still my closest Spain friend."

"Well, you're not mine."

"I know." He didn't seem too upset about that. "Just you wait, Evans."