/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟔.𝟙.𝟣

"those who don't believe in magic will never find it." ~ Roald Dahl

~july 1976~

The second Lily climbed out of her parents' magically enlarged car when they finally pulled up to their summer beach house, she headed for the shore. The ride had been long and filled with boring conversations with Petunia's boyfriend as Lily and her friends tried their hardest not to make too many snide comments. "Oh, sure-" Marlene called sarcastically after Lily, "-we'll just take your things up, don't even worry about it!"

Lily ignored her and walked faster, the sea breeze blowing her hair back behind her shoulders. It was a tradition for her, something she shared with only herself. Every time she went to the beach with her family, the first thing she had to do was go to the water's edge and "say hello to the ocean," as she'd called it when she was six. She jogged the last few steps to the sand and then kicked her shoes off before running out to the water, her arms outstretched as though to give the entire landscape a hug. She wished she could. Lily loved the beach more than anywhere else in the world, even Hogwarts.

When she first dipped her toes into the surf, she shivered and laughed to herself. It was freezing cold, but she didn't care. She waded in knee deep and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, careful not to drop it into the ocean. As she smoked, she watched the seagulls circling above her and felt cool, peaceful air wash over her. This, she thought to herself, this is going to be the best summer ever.

When she finally got back to the house, her shoes in one hand, her other holding back her hair, she heard a shout from the top story window. "Lily!" Artemis cried, dangling one foot over the ledge of the windowsill as she leaned against the frame, a cigarette hanging loosely from one hand, a crooked smile lighting up her face. "Get up here!"

"We unpacked all your stuff for you!" shouted Marlene, sitting across from Artemis, their legs touching. She had laughter etched all over her face like Artemis or Mary had just told a good joke. "Come on!"

Lily grinned at them and then jogged through her family's large beach house to her bedroom, already set up for the four girls to spend the month. "You already raided my dad's alcohol?" she snorted, picking up the open bottle of rose sitting on the bedside table, hesitating, and then putting it to her lips to take a sip.

"Oh, come off it," said Artemis. "He'll never notice, and it's not like he can't afford to lose it."

"Fair enough," Lily said, throwing herself onto her bed. "Honestly, we can do pretty much whatever we want since Petunia and Vernon are here. My parents won't care."

Mary, who'd been carefully packing a backpack with paints and small canvases, stood up and reached for the bottle of wine. "Then I plan on stealing as much of this shit as I can get my hands on. Muggle wine is really good."