Despite the fact that the streets were littered with leaves and mud, the floors of 23 Maple Street remained completely spotless. The lobby is quiet and completely empty, except for Bernie of course. He sits behind his desk with a coral cardigan, typing away at his computer. The fireplace roars across the room, keeping the temperature comfortable even when the front doors welcomed an ungodly gust of ice.

Lily skips down the steps from the elevator in her pajamas and slippers, waving kindly at Bernie. He watches through his thick glasses without an ounce of expression. The eye contact alone was just as friendly a hello as any other. She walks over to her mail cubby and unlocks it, pulling out an abundance of letters from the past few days; James is the one who usually gets the mail, but recently he'd been out of the apartment for hours on end - even after his classes had ended.

She closes the cubby and it locks up while shuffling past Bernie quietly. Junk mail. Junk mail. Coupon. Bank. She pauses on a specific letter addressed to James from Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Behind it is another post card from her dentist waiting for her sixth month cleaning. They always had the cutest polar bears on the front reminding her to floss.

Once back in the apartment, Lily tosses the mail onto the countertop when she notices the candle on the island. It was pushed off to the right rather than in the center. She scoots it back to its original placement and carries on back to her room. McGonagall's latest assignment was abstract and it definitely wasn't going to paint itself.

❁

The train screeches to a halt letting out another wave of passengers. James steps on, making his way towards the back to find a seat apart from everyone else. The train jolts forwards as it moves onto the next stop, picking up its speed until the movements become soothing. Rain pelts against the glass, fogging the view of the city whirling by. James leans his head against the window, shutting his eyes with a heavy sigh. Some days it felt like the world was crumbling down and there was nothing he could do but watch. He twists the silver ring on his finger, staring off into the distance. Anger burns deep inside of him, slowly building up the longer he sits in solitude. Before he knows it, the train halts at his stop.

The rain has eased and falls like a gentle sprinkle. Dark clouds are looming off in the distance with a storm most likely coming in. It had been raining all week it seemed. Not a trace of sunlight to brighten the day. James tears his eyes away from the sky; she always loved of thunderstorms.

James steps into the elevator behind a slim woman who looked roughly a few years older. Her blonde hair is curled and her pale skin is masked with tremendous amounts of makeup. What caught his attention most was not the horrid yellow dress she wore, but the length of her neck. It was twice as long as the average. This woman looked both 25 and 40 at the same time.

"Which floor?" James asks politely, pushing number 4 for himself.

"Fourth," the woman replies with a bitter undertone.

The elevator shakes a little as it rises and neither say a word for the next minute. James follows the woman as she stalks down the hallway with her long pigeon legs. Everything about her irritated him and he didn't even know who she was.

"For fucks sake..." James grumbles under his breath.

The woman walks slowly, inspecting everything under her nose with a grimace. Suddenly she stops, whipping around with her bony finger pointed out. "I'll put a restraining order on you!" she exclaims. "I have pepper spray!"

James holds his hands up with a bewildered look. "Pardon me, but you're the one walking to my apartment."

The woman takes a step back, watching James take his key and open the door to apartment number 16. She steps onto the welcome mat and scoffs at the ridiculous pun. It screamed tacky, but what else would she expect from her little sister.

"Evans!" James shouts.

Lily pops her head out of her room. "What? What's wrong?" she asks nervously.

"There's some bitch at the door for you."

She steps out in her dirty painting clothes, curious to see who would come to visit at this time. Her mouth drops when she sees Petunia standing in the doorway. "P-Petunia?" she stammers, taking her smock off and laying it across the counter.

Petunia steps into the apartment without invitation, scanning it with her pale blue eyes. "Hello Lily," she greets coldly.

"What're you doing here?"

"Chrissy told me that you moved out. Mom gave me the address to check it out for myself."

"You should've called. I would've made dinner or we could go out! I can be ready in ten minutes."

Petunia purses her thin lips. "No, Vernon and I are going to his parents tonight." Lily nods understandingly. "I see you have company anyway..." Her eyes narrow on James who is still standing in the kitchen looking like a lost puppy. "I thought you could do better than that."

Lily rolls her eyes. "James is my roommate, Tunie."

"He's not a boyfriend?" Lily shakes her head. "Are you trying to ruin the family name? Living with a boy who isn't your partner? I knew you could be stupid but I never imagined you a whore too! And him? What is he, some washed up frat boy? Does he even pay the rent or did he convince you to take it all?"

"Petunia!" Lily shouts angrily, clenching a fist tightly by her side. "Just because I'm not living with my boyfriend of four years who talks nothing but drills and his privilege doesn't make me a whore! And you have no right speaking of James like that when you don't even know him!" She takes a deep breath, rubbing her head to ease the headache growing. "Now if you have nothing else to say, the door is right there."

Petunia scoffs, clutching her purse closely. "I'll have you know that Vernon is the most respected business man! He's even been promoted to general manager!"

"Fantastic. Why don't you go tell Bernie on your way out."

As Petunia starts to back away, James waves to her calling out, "Bye Tuna!"

When the door slams, Lily rests against it, sliding down to the floor. James walks up to her, staring down with a grin. "She's a ray of sunshine," he jokes, offering Lily a hand up.

"Petunia's my older sister," Lily explains. "She's a nightmare on two legs. I'm so sorry you had to meet her like that. If I had it my way she wouldn't meet you at all. All I do is try to be nice to her and she always has to say the rudest things to me! I don't even know why I try with her. It's useless at this point. And I don't even know what I did to her!"

James shrugs. "She's your sister. You shouldn't be so harsh about it."

Lily stops pacing the floor, glaring at him. "Excuse me?"

"I'm just saying, she might be awful but she's your family."

"How cliche. I take it you're close with your family?" James nods, not offering any further information. Lily runs a hand through her hair, motioning to the pile of letters on the counter. "That's your mail, by the way."

James reaches over and sorts through them; he tosses every letter but two in the trash. Slowly he departs back to his bedroom, shutting the door to drown out Lily's music. Her favorite album to listen to while painting was Harry Styles' album on repeat. Over and over and over again.

❁

The rest of the night had been dreadfully uneventful. James lays in his bed staring at the time tick by. Every minute seemed to be twice as long as the last. Another crack of thunder whipped through the still night and a steady rain began to fall. The pitter patter of rain against the window only kept him up. He props his arm behind his head, staring around the room. It was fairly plain with not much beside the essentials. A streak of lightning illuminates the room for a split second before darkness consumes it again. Only two framed photos sat on his dresser. They were the last thing he saw before he fell asleep every night and the first when he woke.

Going against his better judgment, he rolls over and grabs his phone. He scrolls through his texts, unsure who would be up at this hour. Sirius was definitely awake, but James didn't want to bother him, and Remus and Peter always go to bed early. That left one other person.

Evans you up?

He watches the small blue line go across the screen and a flash of panic crosses his eyes just before it sends. He sits up when the text goes through as delivered, instantly regretting sending it. A minute passes by without a response. "Shit," he mutters, setting the phone back on his nightstand. He falls back onto the bed, closing his eyes as if it hadn't happened when he hears the slight buzz.

No

James smiles, taking his phone off the charger and rolling over.

Why are you up?

You texted me first

Can't sleep

Me too

What're you doing?

Eating a cookie

Wait the one that was sitting by the stove?

Lily's text bubbles pop up, then disappear. No reply.

That was mine

Didn't have your name on it

Evans!

That's the name

James can't help but smile at their banter. He stares at the texts as his eyelids grow heavier. After a minute of dozing in and out of sleep, he sends a last text:

Goodnight Evans

Goodnight Potter

James reads the text before rolling onto his stomach, and for the first time in years, fell asleep with a smile on his face.