Jily - forever 21

Lily and the boys - part 1

Quote of the chapter: you have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than everyone else - Albert Einstein.

Lily enjoyed the next few days with the boys; they did everything they could to make her laugh and move on. However, something was bugging James, he could not, would not believe that she had thought he was making fun of her. Remus was getting very annoyed with him and said, "Go talk to her then, if it bothers you that much." James nodded; his eyes searched the massive ground and found Lily by the lake.

Lily did not react when James sat down next to her except she said, "This must have been an amazing place to grow up." James looked at her in surprise before saying, "It was. I love this place, it will always be my childhood home, but Hogwarts is home too. You must feel that way too about your house in Surrey." Lily smiled slightly, "I do. Of course I do, but it's not my home anymore. I mean, right now Hogwarts is home. And after that, as long as you're with the right people, I believe you can be at home anywhere." James glanced at Lily again, but she was still looking out over the lake. He pulled up his Gryffindor courage, "Lily." When he didn't continue Lily looked at him and sighed. "Sirius should learn to keep his mouth shut." Lily said. James looked surprised but said, "It's Sirius, what do you expect?" Lily's lips twitched but she didn't smile, she just said, "Say what you wanna say, James. It seems you're the only person who hasn't yet." James knew she didn't mean Slytherins or other people who might hate on her, she meant that everyone had said something in his defence to her. Therefore, he said, "Do you know how long I've waited for you to stop calling me Potter? You can really get a bloke to hate his own name." Lily couldn't help but smile. James continued, "I never made fun of you Lily. I wanted to go out with you, every time I asked you out." Lily got on her feet before replying, "As much as I'd love to believe that James, I can't. But I will tell you this. I'm glad that you're calling me Lily instead of Evans." She walked up towards the house, leaving James staring after her.

Sirius dropped down next to him, "How'd it go?" James sighed, "No idea, Pads. No idea." Sirius looked at him before smacking him over the head and saying, "Stop being so depressing." Then Sirius threw him in the lake before jumping in after him. () Meanwhile Lily reached Remus who was reading on the terrace. Remus looked at her, the question evident in his eyes. Lily sighed and replied, "I don't believe it. I can't believe it." Before Remus could protest, Lily walked inside. Then the soaked James and Sirius came, threw him in the lake, and jumped in after him.

Lily walked inside to find Dorea Potter, James' mother, reading in a couch. She looked up and looked concernedly at Lily, then said, "You look like you could need a distraction from everything." Lily smiled, "I could, preferably so I wouldn't have to think, Mrs. Potter." Dorea smiled and said, "Call me Dorea, Lily. What would you say to a shopping trip?" Lily grinned, "I'd love that."

James, Sirius & Remus entered the house when they began feeling cold. To their surprise only Mr. Potter was in the living room, James asked, "Where's mum and Lily?" Charlus glanced up and said, "I have got no idea, ask Anna." James looked at Sirius and Remus in confusion, but they looked equally confused. Sirius walked out to the kitchens to find Anna, the house elf, James and Remus quickly followed. Sirius asked, "Where's mum and Lily?" Anna replied, "I not know, Mrs. Dorea and Miss Lily is not to be expected to dinner."

At 21 p.m. Lily and Dorea entered the house, several shopping bags floating behind them, both of them laughing. Dorea hardly being able to hold herself together, see Lily had just told her of one prank that she once had pulled on her sister, which included her sister having a beard for a week and Vernon actually being a whale for a while. Dorea grinned at the boys and said, "I get why you hang around Lily, that's for sure. I don't think I've ever actually laughed an entire day through." James was a tad frozen, Lily looked stunning, her hair in loose curls and she was laughing. Dorea said, "I would like to hear the rest of that prank story Lily, but now I think I am gonna get all this stuff packed away." Lily grinned at her and said, "I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, Dorea. We have to go that restaurant again some time." Dorea laughed, "There's not a chance, we'd never go there again, Lily. Goodnight everyone." Lily looked at all her bags and grinned before turning to James, "Your mum goes mental when she shops. Are you aware of that?" She was still grinning when she started steering her bags up to her temporary room. Remus and Sirius followed her, since James was thinking a lot after his conversation with Lily earlier.

Lily's temporary room: Lily let all of her bags fall to the floor and she smiled. She turned as Remus and Sirius entered. Remus let himself drop down in one of the chairs whereas Sirius threw himself on the floor. Lily decided that they'd talk if they had something to say so she began unpacking her new clothes and shoes. Sirius said, "Why won't you believe him?" Lily sighed and turned around. "This is what you've come to talk to me about? Really?" Remus and Sirius weren't fazed by Lily's tone. Remus said, "Come on Lily. Just talk." Lily raised an eyebrow at him, "So you can wander back and tell him. What good will that do?" Remus said, "A lot. He doesn't understand Lily and frankly neither do we." Sirius nodded, "Yeah. It makes no sense whatsoever." Lily sighed again, "I don't know what it is you're so... ugh, look even if it was true that he'd actually liked me, and then no person would keep at it for such a long time. He's got this image of me, he doesn't know the real me." Sirius who had been listening intently or as intently as Sirius now could said, "Well that's ridiculous."

AN. If any of you are TMI/TID fans then please go read my latest fic...