Aurelia laid on Lily's bed, absentmindedly twiddling her thumbs together as she looked out a small window where light was pouring out of. Lily was sitting in an armchair as she opened countless envelopes, reading each one in slight amusement before putting them in a pile on her desktop. 

"Thank you for letting me stay," Aurelia said after a while. 

Lily nodded. "It's fine. Are you sure your dad won't mind?"

"We're going to spend the Christmas together," Aurelia replied. "And he said we might do something special next summer. He's busy, you know, with work and all."

"What job does he have?" Lily asked curiously.

"An artist," Aurelia immediately answered. "He likes to um, paint animated portraits."

"That sounds interesting. Personally I've always wanted to be an Auror and fight evil."

"Wow, Gryffindors with their hero complex," Aurelia mumbled under her breath.

Lily scoffed. "What do you want to be then?"

"Maybe an activist, but I always thought being an artist would be just as fun." Aurelia paused to look at the small clock on the desktop that Lily was right beside, "When did you say Marlene was going to get here?"

Lily's eyes traveled to the clock, before she jumped off the armchair. "She should be here right about now!"

They sped downstairs, opening the door wide open. Marlene was standing idly on the doorstep, her dark blonde curls bouncing off her shoulders. "Hello," she greeted, smiling at Lily before making her way in. 

"Do you want to go in the—"

"Why do you have so many people over here?" a harsh voice interrupted. "I was going to have Vernon over!"

Aurelia looked over her shoulder. Lily's sister — who was quite a bit taller than them — was surveying them with an air of pure disgust.

Lily's facial features held the same look of loathing when she mentioned the name of the boy. "You can hang out with your boyfriend another time. Mum said she didn't appreciate it when he—"

"I—don't—care!" Petunia shouted. "She doesn't appreciate a lot of things involving me, but if it's you, 'perfect Lily', it doesn't matter — even when you hang out with your freakish friends!"

Aurelia and Marlene shared an awkward glance with one another. 

"Maybe if Vernon wasn't vermin!"

"Maybe if Lily wasn't downright silly—"

"Maybe if Tuney wasn't loony—"

"Maybe if Lily wasn't leery—"

"Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Yes, yes it is!"

"You can never be too cautious—"

"But sometimes you can be a bit too obnoxious—"

Marlene grabbed Aurelia's hand, running up the steps before entering their way to Lily's room. "That was a close call," Marlene said out of breath as she closed the wooden door. "Reminds me of my older brother."

"Good thing I don't have a sibling then," Aurelia said, laughing.

"So," started Marlene as she looked around the small room, "do we have any plans?"

"Plans? I, um — I don't know."

Aurelia could hear yelling from downstairs; Marlene and Aurelia looked towards the floor in unison — waiting for the voices to quiet down. 

"They're really at it..." Aurelia trailed off, staring at the floor in bemusement.

Marlene looked up, rubbing the back of her neck, her cheeks tinted pink. "What were you doing earlier?"

Aurelia shrugged carelessly. "Nothing much, just talking about random stuff. Do you want to—"

There was a sudden slam that interrupted Aurelia's speech. Lily stood before them, practically fuming; her whole face red in anger.

Aurelia coughed. "Um, Lily?"

"We're leaving," Lily immediately said as she began piling things into her rucksack.

Aurelia shot her a concerned look while Marlene inclined her head in understanding. "Straight to business, I see. Where to?"

"Railview Hotel," Lily said. "Petunia is throwing a hissy fit, and I'd rather not get in her way."

Aurelia and Marlene jumped to their feet; both grabbing as many stuff as they possibly could.

Lily, Marlene, and Aurelia stood before a tall building with a large sign that read Railview Hotel. The inside was quite spacious; it had large white columns and a tall ceiling. The floor was made entirely of marble and there were grand displays showing cakes and pies near where a lady was handing out pastries.

The man at the desk raised a brow as he regarded the group of teens inquisitively. "Need a room?"

"Yes please," Lily replied, holding out a handful of cash. 

The man sighed, "You've never worked this out before, have you?"

"Can't say I have."

"Right then," he said. "Room 17 should work for you. I wish I could say this was the only time this happened." The person at the desk said the last part in a whisper, but by the look of embarrassment Lily had it was safe to say she heard every word.

"If it makes you feel any better I probably couldn't have done any better," Marlene said as they entered the room.

"Of course you couldn't, you don't even know how Muggle stuff works."

"I was just trying to help," Marlene scoffed. "No need to be so rude."

"I wasn't being rude!"

"You say that while you're acting that way!"

"Be quiet!" Aurelia exclaimed. "You sound like a pair of bickering teenage girls. Oh wait — that's exactly what you two are." 

"Hey!" Marlene said, hitting Aurelia with a pillow.

Aurelia stared at her, aghast, "We need to bedbug check the pillows!"

"Oh yes, how could I forget?" Marlene flailed her arms dramatically. 

After the next half hour Aurelia checked the cushions and pillows, making sure that there weren't any bugs. Aurelia shivered at the mere thought of those tiny insects — living on human and animal blood. Definitely not something she wanted to be around.

"I'm done," Aurelia hummed. "Now we can have some fun!"

"Like what?" Lily questioned.

"What do Muggles do?" Marlene looked around, trying to get some inspiration, before indicating towards a supply of paint and paintbrushes. "We can do arts and crafts!"

"Okay!" Aurelia grinned, taking out the supplies before setting them on the ground. "We have canvases, right?"

"I don't think so," Lily said. "It surprises me that they even have things for us to use honestly."

"We can accio some then," Aurelia said. "Let's see, acc—"

"Aurelia!" Marlene exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just trying to help," said Aurelia, scowling. "Jeez, people these days."

Lily wore a disappointed frown. "And you don't think Muggles will see a canvas floating in midair? I thought you were a Ravenclaw — yet you're lacking basic common sense!"

"It was just an idea!" Aurelia cried. "No need to attack me!"

"I'm not attacking you," Lily said calmly. "Hold on, I'll see whether anyone can give us any." She took out some of her Muggle currency, "This may help."

Lily slammed the door close by accident, but it was deafening enough for there to be loud complaints from their neighbors. Lily took no mind, and left without a word.

Aurelia and Marlene sat on the bed in the far left corner of the room, making subtle conversation with each other while awaiting Lily's return from who knows where. Finally Lily returned, carrying canvases and other things that they may possibly need.

"Let's get started, shall we?" 

Aurelia opened the paint bottles and grabbed a paintbrush. She outlined her drawing using a pencil in order to capture all of the details she wanted to include. Marlene was staring in concentration at her own work, whilst Lily had already started painting, using a variety of different colours.

They all began to get to work, mixing certain different colours of paint and blending them into the background. Marlene flicked her paintbrush at Aurelia — causing the latter to have white paint splattered all across her face like tiny stars. Aurelia did the same back, which quickly led to Lily joining in, and after half an hour their whole faces were covered in multicoloured paint.

"I'm done," Lily said at last, scanning her painting to make sure there weren't any things she left out. 

"I'm done as well," Aurelia concluded.

"You guys are way too fast," Marlene groaned. 

"You're way too slow," Aurelia said jokingly, shaking her head in mock disappointment. 

After about another ten minutes of waiting Marlene set her paintbrush aside. "I'm done too." She got up, observing her painting from a distance, Lily and Aurelia following suit.

Lily's was a picture of the night sky, a lightning streak clearly visible across it. Aurelia's was a picture of a cave and a lake; a dreary mist clouded the image almost entirely, but there was no denying what it was. Marlene's was a picture of Lily, Aurelia, and her together. Lily was standing off to the side, while Marlene and Aurelia were covered in pieces of dirt, holding each other's hands as they watched the horizon.

"They're pretty," Lily said, a satisfied smile on her face.

Marlene was busy looking at them, but she looked up after hearing Lily's words. "What should we do now?"

"Now?" Aurelia repeated. 

"Yes, now."

"We could order pizza," Lily suggested, her eyes drifting off to a phone sitting on the bedside table. 

"Pizza," said Marlene. "From where?"

"Florean Fortescue's Pizzeria," Lily said. She made her way over and dialed a few numbers. "I'm calling them right now, what would you two like?"

"Pepperoni please," Aurelia answered. Marlene looked confused, but didn't protest. 

"Two pepperoni pizzas please, and one plain cheese," Lily said into the phone. "Yes, two of those. Have a great day as well — yes, thank you very much." She hung up, grinning at them. "Just finished ordering, they should be here any minute."

"Already?" Marlene said.

"It's magic pizza," Aurelia said. "If you have access to magic, how long could it take—"

There was a loud knocking on the door. Aurelia opened it, only to see a girl — probably about nineteen at most — carrying three boxes of pizza. She was wearing an emerald cloak; she didn't even seem bothered to conceal herself into the Muggle world. She looked at Aurelia's paint splattered face in a deadpanned fashion. "Three galleons please."

"Leave it to me," Marlene said, handing out a few galleons. 

"But—" Aurelia tried to intrude.

Marlene winked at her, trying to prevent Aurelia from continuing.

"Thank you," the girl said, looking anything but grateful. She gave a half-hearted wave, mumbling something along the lines of 'I don't get paid enough for this'. 

Marlene set the pizzas on the table, opening them up so a strong scent wafted through the entirety of the room. Lily turned on music while Aurelia and Marlene each grabbed a piece, shoving them into their mouths. Lily looked disgusted but didn't mention anything as she danced along to the blaring music. Aurelia and Marlene joined her, moving their arms every which way until they could no longer move.

Aurelia laid on one of the beds, a smile present on her face. "This was an interesting day, to say the least."

"Yes," Marlene whispered. "Yes it was."