Honey, I love You

Isn't it funny how the simplest things in our lives can unearth thoughts we swore we would bury deep into our minds, and never acknowledge again? The most casual sentence can stir up feelings and emotions in a person, strong enough to drive them crazy. The simplest look can mean so much more. Well, no one knows this better than Lily Evans.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a fine, breezy Saturday at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Lily Evans was sitting in the Gryffindor common room deep in thought. It was her last year at Hogwarts, and she was thinking about her friends and her life with them in the past seven years. Marlene McKinnon, Emmeline Vance, and Alice Prewett were Lily's best girl friends at school. She and Marlene had met on the Hogwarts Express and soon became very good friends. Alice and Emmeline, who already knew each other, started a conversation with Lily and Marlene once they found out that they were sharing dormitories with each other.

Marlene was the casual one of the group. She had dark brown wavy hair that fell to her shoulders and identical brown eyes. She never held grudges for long (unlike Lily), and never panics about homework completion (again, unlike Lily).

Emmeline was the joker of the four. Long blonde hair framed her face prettily, and her eyes were a startling blue. Although she may seem like a girly-girl on the outside, she was a true tomboy inside. However, she was also quite the flirt.

Alice was the quiet one. Her hair was short and straight, and was a pleasant honey color. She had plain light brown eyes which she always thought were quite boring. What she didn't know was that they seemed to entice a good-natured boy in their year named Frank Longbottom. Alice rarely disagreed with the other girls for fear that they might turn on her. She needn't have worried though, the other three girls would never desert her.

Lily was definitely the bookworm of the bunch. She constantly nagged the others about finishing their homework on time and was rarely seen without a book in her hand. Lily had long dark red hair that just reached past her shoulders and rare emerald green eyes which her friends always envied. If only she knew that it wasn't only Alice's eyes that caught the attention of a boy...

For six whole years at Hogwarts, the four girls were attached at the hip. They loved to do everything together although every now and then Emmeline would jokingly complain that they never hung out with boys. Little did they know that that problem was to be fixed around the start of their seventh year.

In their year were also four boys who, like the girls, had never left each other's side since first year. These boys were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter. They were the biggest pranksters known in Hogwarts history. Because of their reputation, they dubbed themselves the Marauders and they were sure that not in a million years would Hogwarts forget that name (egos much?).

Sirius Black was suave, sly, and mischievous, but he could also be a downright goofball at times. His hair was dark and shiny and quite unnaturally long for a boy, but he didn't seem to mind it in the least. Despite the fact that Sirius looked care-free on the outside, he actually had a very disturbing life at home. Nearly Sirius' whole family were supporters of the Dark Arts while he himself detested them. Every time Sirius was at home his mother would scream at him endlessly, and his father would beat him from time to time. Hogwarts was Sirius' home, his escape. It was the only place where he could actually feel happy.

Remus Lupin was a mystery to many. He was very quiet and studious as well as shy, and always kept to himself. He was afraid of letting people too far into his inner circle lest they find out about his secret. Remus was a werewolf. Bitten when he was eight, Remus spent most of his time alone in his room, reading books and trying to distract himself from the fact that he had no friends. This, of course, was before he met the Marauders. They helped Remus become who he truly was, and most of the time Remus forgot that he even was a werewolf.

There was nothing much to be said about Peter Pettigrew except for that he was a small mousy boy who always trailed after the Marauders, acting as their personal cheerleader of some sort. Peter, like Alice, was always afraid of being shunned by his friends but he too had nothing to fear. The Marauders would never leave or betray him. If he could do the same for them would be a question later on...

James Potter. What could be said about him? He was witty, smart, and funny but he was definitely the world's biggest prat when he was fifteen. That was mainly the reason that Lily couldn't stand him back then (even though her friends thought otherwise). She and James had been fighting since third year sending more than a couple of students to the hospital wing for headache cures. James, however, was by no means annoyed by Lily. On the contrary, he adored her every feature from her blood-red hair, to the tips of her toes. He pestered her to go on a date with him at least once or twice a day. It was too bad for him though, because at that time, every aspect about him annoyed Lily. His hair was just one of said aspects. It was charcoal-black and stuck up at angles that seemed to defy gravity itself. More than once Lily wished she could just shear it all off. James was a tough guy, but if he had one physical weakness, it was his eyes. James wore round wire-rimmed glasses and without them he was completely lost and vulnerable. Many times Sirius stole them for a joke and James had to go a whole day without them (which ended up with James nearly throttling Sirius within an inch of his life for taking them).

The Marauders had befriended Lily and her friends around the start of seventh year when they learned that Lily and James were the new Head Boy and Girl. They got into talking on the train and surprisingly, as days went by, they quickly learned to cope with each other. It took Lily a while to consider James a friend though. She was still convinced that he was a big-headed prat, but was proven wrong on many occasions. Every now and then she saw James helping a first year with homework (and once it was a Slytherin, a SLYTHERIN!!), or actually taking the time to study for tests in the library (which, keep in mind, he never usually did). She finally accepted that he had truly changed when she saw James telling off Sirius for turning Snivel- er I mean, Snape's hair into live greasy snakes. Ever since then the Marauders and the girls spent more and more time together and miraculously became what you could call best friends.

Lily sat staring at the empty fireplace pondering all of this. She was extremely grateful to have friends like them, even having the Marauders as best friends had its advantages. Whenever they were being threatened by a Slytherin and were truly in danger, all they had to do was yell “HELP!” and somehow, at least one of the four boys would be there in a flash. They also had gained knowledge of all the schools' secret passageways but the Marauders would never tell the girls how they found them. Being around the boys had helped Lily loosen up a bit as well and she was thankful for that. With NEWTs coming up, without one of their soothing jokes to calm her down, she was sure to have many a nervous breakdown. She didn't know why but it was just something about them that-

“PADFOOT, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU PUT MY GLASSES!?”

Lily chuckled. Ah, that prank never got old. Just as she was wondering where on earth Sirius had put James' glasses now, there came a giggling noise and the sound of someone running down the stairs. Emmeline came into view chortling like mad and clutching a pair of black wire-rimmed glasses -James's glasses.

“You took them?” Lily asked her friend, laughing, as she got up off the couch.

Emmeline, looking triumphant, smirked and said, “Yep, and he didn't even notice until now! Oh, but Lily you do not want to go into the boys dormitory. It smells like a bloody zoo in there!”

“How did you get in there?” Lily asked curiously.

Emmeline shrugged. “It's no big deal. Unlike the girl's dormitory, there's no anti-gender charm on the stairs leading to their dorms”

Lily opened her mouth to ask whether the other girls were still in bed or not, but she didn't even have a chance to start. Just then, there was a loud bang as the door to the boys' dormitory was slammed wide open and a livid looking James Potter burst through it, squinting menacingly at everyone in the common room.

“Looking for something?” Emmeline asked sweetly as she waved the glasses in the air. Lily could practically see the steam coming out of James' ears.

“VANCE!” he roared angrily “I'M GONNA GET YOU!”

Too bad he didn't. Not being able to see, James tripped over his feet on the stairs and landed quite painfully on his back. This didn't stop him though, as he just clambered back onto his feet and set off for Emmeline again. Unfortunately he didn't see the stool that was a few meters away from him and he stumbled over that too, landing face down on the carpet at Lily and Emmeline's feet. Again, he stood up, wincing a bit, and glared at Emmeline.

“Give. Me. My. Glasses.” he said through gritted teeth.

Emmeline pretended to give this order a lot of thought. Finally she came to a conclusion, “Nope”, and started to run around the common room yelling, “Catch them if you can!”

James tried to do just that but failed miserably. He kept on falling and tripping over small things on the ground and bumping into random people. Lily had to admit that it was quite funny watching James stumble around trying to retrieve his glasses. Lily was surprised to see that he looked positively adorable without them as well.

It wasn't until he yelled, “Lily, please help me!”, that she finally took pity on him.

Walking up to Emmeline, she said in a firm voice, “Emmeline, give James back his glasses.”

“Why should I?” Emmeline asked jokingly.

“Because I said so.”, Lily replied crossing her arms but with amusement twinkling in her eyes.

“What if I don't want to?” Emmeline shot back pretending to pout.

Lily rolled her eyes and said, “Well, then you'll have an angry James Potter on your tail for the whole day and you certainly don't want that, do you?”

Emmeline raised an eyebrow as though to say, “I'm still not convinced.”

Lily sighed but then thought of a clever idea. “Or I'll take your whole chocolate stash and smash it to bits.” Anyone who knew Emmeline would know that chocolate is her one and only weakness.

Emmeline's eyes widened at the thought of her precious chocolate being stolen and destroyed. Finally deciding that it was just not worth it, she scoffed and held out James' glasses.

“Thank you.” Lily said as she plucked the glasses out of Emmeline's hands and handed them to James.

“THANK you Lils! I'd look like a bloody idiot without these!” he exclaimed while giving her a kiss on the cheek in thanks almost unconsciously. Lily shivered slightly when his lips touched her skin. This did not go unnoticed by Emmeline who smiled and raised her eyebrows.

“What?” Lily asked bravely, looking at her friend's face.

“Oh, nothing” Emmeline replied in an offhand voice.

James in the meantime was still glaring at Emmeline but his severe annoyance with her was ebbing away and was being replace by amusement. He knew she meant no harm but it's just so much fun overreacting sometimes.

“Now, for my revenge.” James said, laughing at the bemused look on Emmeline's face. But he hadn't even taken one step towards her when a familiar voice sounded from above.

“Step away from the girl, Prongs!”, came the words of Remus Lupin from the stairway leading to the dormitories. He and the rest of their friends were watching the whole thing with amusement from there.

James rolled his eyes good-naturally and said, “Ah, you're being the knight in shining armour to Emmeline, are you Moony?” They all snickered. Just last week Remus had confessed to the rest of the Marauders that he harboured a slight crush on Emmeline (“Moony! I thought you were into the quiet ones!” Sirius exclaimed). Emmeline blushed slightly at James' words but Remus snorted.

“This, coming from the guy who would pretty much slaughter anyone who even looks at Lily.” he said gesturing to the girl in question. It was Lily's turn to blush now, and even James looked slightly pink.

Sirius decided to save James and Lily from their moment of embarrassment. He clapped his hands and exclaimed, “All right, enough of this chit-chat! Let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving!”

“You're always starving Sirius.” Marlene said, rolling her eyes. Sirius, being the ever-so-mature boy he was, stuck out his tongue at her.

They all set off out of the common room and towards the Great Hall. They talked and laughed and joked the whole way down. Lily was once again, very thankful to have friends like them; ones who she could just have a laugh with and not have a care in the world.

When they reached the Great Hall, they all sat in their usual seats together at the Gryffindor table to eat breakfast. After they all had a slice or two of toast each (“How can you be full?” asked Sirius incredulously, who had helped himself to five), they all ventured outside to the grounds, near the lake to suggest what to do with their time.

“Oh! I know what we can do!” Sirius exclaimed suddenly as they all sat down under the shade of a beech tree. “We can play that game you told me about Lily!”

“What, Truth or Dare?”

Sirius shook his head. “No, not that one, it was called `Sweetie, I Like You' or something.”

“Oh, you mean `Honey, I Love You'?” Lily asked, suddenly remembering her talk with Sirius about all the different types of games Muggles play (he was truly intrigued).

“Yeah, that one.”

Remus and Emmeline, who both had Muggles for relatives, both knew what Lily and Sirius were talking about. James, Marlene, Alice, and Peter however, who were all purebloods, were looking with puzzled expressions at the others hoping one of them would explain the game was played.

“How do you play the game?” James finally asked.

Lily launched into explaining the instructions. “It's simple really,” she said “everyone stands in a circle with one person in the middle. That person has to walk up to anyone and try to get them to laugh by saying `Honey, I love you' in the funniest way possible. If that person resists the urge to laugh or smile, they must answer with, `I love you too but I just can't smile'. If the person laughs however, he or she is then in the middle and does the whole routine over again.”

They all looked at her with blank stares. Lily sighed.

“I know it doesn't sound like much fun now, but it's more fun when you actually play it, trust me.” She assured them.

“Hmm, and you could choose anyone right? Not just the opposite gender?” Alice wondered out loud. Lily nodded in reply.

“Alright, that sounds fun, let's play!” Marlene said happily as she jumped to her feet. The others all scrambled upright as well and quickly got into a messy circle.

“Who wants to be in the middle?” Remus asked the crowd. When no one answered, he said with a sigh, “Alright, I'll go first then.”

Remus walked to the middle of the circle and revolved on the spot. Lily watched as his gaze shifted to each person in the circle, and she wondered who he would try to get to laugh. She decided against Emmeline because as much as Remus liked her, Lily assumed that he didn't want more ammunition for James and Sirius to tease him with than they already had. Finally, Lily saw him stop right in front of Marlene. Remus rumpled his hair `and put on a grin that would make James proud (ironically enough, it did). He strutted over to Marlene who was already pink in the face from trying not to laugh. When he was right in front of her, he winked and slung an arm around her saying in a low and supposedly husky voice, “Hey honey,” - another wink - “I love you.” It was too much for them to handle. Marlene and the others broke down laughing while Remus beamed triumphantly.

“Mate, I swear I thought you were Prongs there for a second!” Sirius said between laughs.

Once everyone had composed themselves again, Marlene hurried to the middle of the circle and turned in a circle, looking at each of them just like Remus did. She finally settled on Sirius and smirked as an idea popped into her head. As she walked towards him Sirius' eyes became wide. They only got wider when he saw that she had knelt down on one knee in from of him.

“Honey,” Marlene all but yelled, and here she took his hand in hers. “I love you with all my heart!” At first it looked like Sirius was going to resist but that thought was proven false when Sirius' mouth betrayed him by uttering a small snigger.

“He laughed!” Lily yelled pointing an accusatory finger at Sirius who in turn just sighed and said, “Ah, damn” while snapping his finger. “But do not worry little ones! No one will be able to resist ME!” he yelled as he ran to the middle. Little did he know that he was actually going to be the first person to get rejected in their game.

Sirius repeated the procedure again and this time he stopped on Remus. A mischievous smirk crossed his face. Lily herself wondered how on earth Sirius was going to get Remus to laugh. Because of the fact that she had lived with him and the rest of the Marauders for seven years, Lily knew Remus was a tough walnut to crack. True to her word, when Sirius sauntered up to Remus leaned in close, elbowed him, and said “Hey Moony, I love you.” Remus didn't even blink.

Giving Sirius a determined look, Remus said firmly and clearly, “I love you too, but I just can't smile”

Sirius gasped melodramatically as he moved away and placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me Remmy!” he said, making everyone laugh... well except Remus who couldn't laugh, so he just rolled his eyes.

The game continued on with everyone taking their turn in trying to make someone else laugh. Some of them got rejected and some of them were victorious in their attempts. The game truly got interesting though, when James dissolved into laughter when Alice tried to make him laugh, and ran to the middle.

Lily held her breath as James looked around, trying to decide who to pick. If she was curious as to whom the others were going to pick, it was a childish thought compared to what was going through her mind now. Who will he pick? I saw him linger on Emmeline for a while, could it be her? What about- wait, why do I care so much? Lily asked herself in her mind. You care because you want him to pick you! said the annoying voice that always seemed to pop up whenever she was thinking about James (which was oddly often these days...). What?! Lily responded in her mind, No I don't! The little voice laughed. Oh yes you do! I know your thoughts about him! You positively crave him! Haven't you been wondering why I keep appearing on a daily basis now? Lily didn't answer this. Exactly! Now, it is not healthy to think so much about a boy and not do anything about it. You'll get a high fever! Lily actually raised her eyebrows at this. Alright, that's a lie, but you know perfectly well that you consider James more than a friend. The fact that you keep on denying it has been driving me MAD!! Probably your friends too come to think of it.

Lily was about to deny everything the little voice said, but then quickly stopped for two reasons. One, it's quite weird to fight with your consciousness (in other words, fighting with yourself) and two, her consciousness might actually be right.

Lately, Lily noticed that she was paying more attention to James Potter than she usually did. More than once, Marlene had to slap Lily back to reality in classes because of the fact that Lily was busy staring at the back of James' head with a dreamy expression on her face. Many times Lily felt a burst of jealousy surge through her whenever she sees another girl flirting with James. Lily's friends had also noticed that she couldn't keep eye contact with James for more than a few seconds, before looking away, blushing. Everyone who witnessed all this came to the same conclusion: Lily Evans liked James Potter. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Oh. My. GOD! Lily thought as she came to this realization, You're right! I do like him! CRAP! The little voice laughed again, All right, no need to go ballistic on me! It's natural! No, not for Lily Evans to like James Potter! *sigh* what am I gonna do with you? Okay, I'll admit he has been quite sweet lately... he's opened doors for me, he makes me laugh, he's bought me so many lovely things (some which I don't even deserve), and he- Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't need a play-by-play of why James Potter is perfect, okay? I just think you need to-

“Er, Lily....Lily...LILY!”

Lily snapped back to reality when Sirius called her name none-too-softly. Lost in her thoughts, Lily hadn't noticed that James was standing right in front her with a surprisingly serious look on his face. Everyone was watching them on pins and needles.

Crap.

Lily watched as James took a deep breath and grabbed her hand. That simple touch made Lily's heart go haywire. It did not slow whatsoever when James opened his mouth and looked into her eyes.

“Honey, I love you.”

Nobody spoke except for Sirius who said to Remus in a quite audible whisper, “Sad thing is, he actually means it”

Lily's eyes widened at this. Was Sirius telling the truth? Did James truly love her? Did she love him? All of these questions ran through her mind making her feel dizzy, and frankly, quite scared.

“Um...I-I...er...W-well....” Lily stuttered.

Everyone was quiet and still for a whole minute (which, by the way, was a record for Sirius) before Alice broke the silence, “Er, hey guys! Did you know that there's a new type of....er... soap in the bathrooms?”

Remus feigned shock “I thought that was just a rumour!”

“True story, let's go check it out!” Everyone except James and Lily nodded and started for the castle. “NOW!” Alice emphasized to Peter, who was straggling.

Before long, James and Lily were left by themselves under the beech tree. Lily was still staring, transfixed, into James' eyes and couldn't seem to break her gaze. She had a tornado of feelings and questions swirling inside her. Had James meant what he said? Just as Lily was asking herself this, she saw something. James' eyes were so intense upon her, it was almost frightening. That meant it was a good possibility that he meant what he said... but no, surely not...? As James opened his mouth to say something again, a new feeling struck her, fear. This was too much for her to handle. So she did what any other girl in her place would do.

She ran.

James stared at the spot Lily had occupied just a moment ago before she sped off, and only one thought was going through his head at that moment: What just happened?

Lily was running as fast as her legs could carry her. She had to get away from James for a while. All these new emotions were strong, and they were scaring her. She just needed a moment or two alone to set her thoughts straight. She slowed to a stop behind Hagrid's hut to try and to catch her breath. Surely James couldn't find her there. If only life were that kind.

“Lily?”

Damn.

She stood stock still, refusing to turn around. “Don't turn around don't turn around don't turn around....” was the mantra running through her mind as she tried to steady her breath.

“Lily, please turn around.”

It surprised her how easily she betrayed her thoughts. As she slowly turned around, she watched James open his mouth for what felt like the umpteenth time, but this time she stayed to hear what he had to say.

“Okay,” James said, “I - er-gotta tell you something. I - um- I meant what I said back there.” When Lily didn't breathe a word, James continued, “I've had a huge crush on you since third year, but around fifth year, I guess I realized that it was more than that. When I look back I can see that I handled it totally wrong. I don't know what was going through my head when I thought that acting all superior would impress you... I really was a prat.” James looked off into the distance for a moment, suddenly remembering the time when he was constantly rejected by Lily. She didn't miss the pained expression that crossed his face when he encountered these memories. “Anyways, what I'm really trying to say here is that I love you Lily, and I would do anything for once chance with you.”

Lily gulped and she felt tears prickling her eyes. As she fought them back with a vengeance she said, “How can I be sure James? How can I- no forget about me, how can you be so certain that you love me? I mean, we're still practically teenagers! How could you know what love feels like at this age?

James sighed. “Lily, I'm positive I love you. You want to know how I know this? Well, can you give me any other explanation of why I act like a bloody git around you all the time? Haven't you noticed that I haven't so much as looked at the other girls here at Hogwarts?” Lily looked down at her shoes, and James could tell that she was still not convinced. “I know what you're probably thinking: `But that could just mean he fancies me, not loves me' Well, that's where you're wrong. When I'm with you it's... it's like...” James looked around as though willing the end of his sentence to just pop out of nowhere and come to his aid. “...It's like nothing else matters. You know? All this stuff that's happening out in the wizarding world scares me like hell, but when I'm with you, I feel as though everyone's at peace, as though I'm at peace.”

There they were again, those blasted tears of hers. One of them actually escaped and leaked down Lily's cheek. She couldn't help but feel that every last thing that James said he felt when she was with him. He was funny, sweet, and charming and all those attributes on James Potter acted as a sort of Calming Drought on Lily. Suddenly, Lily felt a warm, calloused hand brush against her check, wiping the tears away. She felt the same hand tilt her chin up, and her green eyes met the oh-so-familiar hazel ones of James Potter.

“And another thing,” James said as he started to lean in. “you are the most wonderful, the most beautiful, and the most kind-hearted woman I've ever met, Lily Evans. I'd be lucky to have you.”

Lily's heart sped up once more. James was close... much to close. She could count every minuscule freckle on his face. Lily suddenly found herself leaning in as well, their lips where only a hairbreadth's width apart. Lily felt her eyes close and...

BOOM.

James and Lily jumped apart, flushing furiously, as the back door to Hagrid's hut banged open revealing a sheepish looking Hagrid in the doorway.

“OH! Er, sorry, am I in'erruptin' somthin'?”

Lily looked at James for help but he was stammering lamely.

“No! No of course you weren't, Hagrid!” Lily said when she realized that James wasn't going to say anything anytime soon.

Hagrid looked from James to Lily and his sheepish smile turned into a smirk as he noticed that both James and Lily were pink in the face, and avoiding each other's eyes.

“S'all right, s'all right, I din' see nothin'!” Hagrid said in his booming voice, before winking and striding towards the grounds to perform his gamekeeping duties.

This resulted in James and Lily being left alone again with the air around them so tense, you could cut it with a knife. James suddenly extended his hand towards Lily and said, “Wanna go for a walk around the lake?” Lily smiled and nodded while taking his hand.

For a long while, James and Lily just strolled around the lake in a surprisingly comfortable silence. This gave Lily time to think about what James had said to her back at Hagrid's hut. Lily did notice that every time she was with him, his smile never wavered (and neither did hers). He always payed the utmost attention to her, even back when they were younger, and he did care about her. He opened doors for her, he carried her book for her, and if she showed the tiniest ounce of sadness, James was there in a second, concern in his voice and a box of tissues ready if she needed them. It was true, James loved Lily. She was just too blind, and too much in denial back then to see it.

So Lily had gotten one question down. Did James love her? Yes. Now it was just the matter of answering the last and possibly most important question: Did she love him? She knew she had a crush on him but did she actually love him?

Lily looked over at James, and the answer came to her immediately. Yes, of course she loved him! How else could she explain all the weird feelings in the pit of her stomach that she got whenever he looked at her? What else could be the reason for her wanting to hug and comfort James and never let him go whenever he was sad about something? A few days ago, Lily would have answered these with, “It's just platonic feelings.” But now, now she knew better than that.

Lily now knew for sure that she loved James. The only thing left to do was to tell him. The trouble was Lily wasn't sure she had the courage to do so.

Come on Evans! Said the voice in Lily's head again, He's already told you that he loves you, what have you got to lose? Ah you're back again, Lily thought irritably. Well to answer your question: everything. What if we start dating and then he realises I'm not worth it after all? What if I'm a horrid girlfriend to him? What if- Merlin, slow down, will you? Listen to me, James will NEVER think you're not worth it. I mean, come ON! The man's been pining after you for at least five years, and I don't think he'll stop now. Lily looked at James and decided that, once again, her inner voice was right. It was time to face her fears, but her nerves were jangling. Suddenly a thought appeared in her mind. If she was too nervous to actually say the words to James... well, didn't they always say, “Actions speak louder than words”?

Lily stopped walking abruptly which made James stop as well. “Lily?”� He asked with concern in his voice, “Is everything okay?” Lily simply responded by leaning forwards and pressing her lips gently against his.

To say it was bliss was an understatement. Even though the kiss was innocent, it held so much meaning that neither of them could put into words. It was the start of something wonderful.

~*~*~*~*2o years later*~*~*~*~

The summer sun shone brightly upon the castle of Hogwarts where six friends, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood, sat underneath the shade of the beech tree, still relishing in the triumph of having defeated Voldemort a week ago. They all had suffered greatly, Harry the most, but they decided to put all the darks times and pain behind them, and move on with their lives.

“I'm so bored.” Ron muttered “It's so quiet without You-Know-Who running around the place”

“Are you ever going to call him by his name Ron?” Harry asked exasperatedly, rolling his eyes.

“Oh! I know something we could do!” Hermione said suddenly. As they all turned their heads towards her she said, “Why don't we play `Honey, I love you'?”

“What?” The five others asked in reply.

“How do you play that?” Harry asked looking confused.

“It's simple really...”

Here we go again...