Summer Dreams

“A holiday with Petunia?!!! Mom, you've GOT to be kidding me!!” Lily Evans said in an exceptionally loud voice to her mother.

“Why don't you ever try to get along with your sister, Lily? I'm sure you two would get along beautifully if you tried.” Rose Evans replied to her 15 year old daughter. There was no kidding that the two women in the room bore exceptional likenesses in their appearances, both having been blessed with the unlikely combination of emerald green eyes and flaming red hair.

“Mother! I have tried! It just never works out! You can't expect me to spend one week alone with Petunia!” Lily tried to convince her mother

“You won't be alone, Lily dear! Your cousin, Lisa is going to be there, isn't she?” Rose tried in vain to persuade her younger daughter to accompany her elder one on a summer holiday to Albania.

“A cousin whom I haven't ever MET!!” Lily looked at her mother incredulously. What's the bet this is going to turn out to be the worst holiday ever? What if Lisa turns out to be some kind of weirdo who absolutely loves to clean? Or worse still, what if Petunia and Lisa turn out to be the best of friends and I'm absolutely alone in the holidays? Or what if Lisa thinks I'm a paste-eating lunatic and agrees with Petunia that I'm a freak? Or what if

She was interrupted at this point by her mother, “Lily, I'm sorry if you don't want to go, but there's no way you can get out of this, the tickets are already paid for. Just please try to have fun, ok? And don't be too hard on you sister, She's going through a rough patch. Now go get packed”

“Am I doomed or am I doomed?” Lily muttered before resignedly dragging herself up the stairs to go to her room and pack.

*****

Lily and Petunia embarked on their journey to Madeline Beach, Albania, Lily hoping for a miracle to occur and the flight being cancelled and Petunia lost in her own thoughts. They minute they stepped out of the airport they were greeted by an enthusiastic “Lily! Petunia!” and whirled about to see themselves facing a girl of about eighteen. Lisa. Lisa was a slim girl with black hair, highlighted with specks of red. Dressed in denim shorts and a tank top, she could easily be termed “beach beauty”. She smiled warmly at her cousins and held her hand out in greeting.

Lily hesitated momentarily before stretching her hand out, “Hi, Lisa, right?”

“Yeah! Lily? Mom told me about your startling green eyes and red hair! Nice combo, I should say!” She grinned infectiously

Lily smiled as she followed her cousin to the parking lot. Lisa seems to be a nice girl! Soon they found themselves in a spacious villa overlooking the beach and had each been given their rooms. Lisa's family was obviously well off and she had been granted permission to use the beach house for the summer. The three teens were alone for the summer…… With nothing but sunshine, beaches, cute boys and adventurous days waiting for them.

“So, girls, what do you want to do today?” Lisa asked as the three girls walked into the sitting room simultaneously, all dressed in shorts and a tank top.

“You tell us Lisa, this is your turf!” Petunia said, seemingly less annoying and more fun when in Albania.

“Well, I was thinking that we could go out for lunch to the beach café and then go surfing, you could meet all my friends too!”

“Sure, why not? Are any of them cute?!” Lily grinned

“I'll leave that for you to decide, my dear cousins! So what are we waiting for? Let's leave then!” Lisa said before storming (literally storming, only not in the bad way) out of the house.

*****

Three hours later, Lily found herself standing on the beach with the waves washing over her feet. This place is so beautiful! I've never seen a more amazing sight! I wish James was here.. NO! Why am I thinking about him?! Lily, get OVER him! He CHEATED on you, for crying out loud! He doesn't care about you! Yes, he does, another voice in her head said. Keep telling yourself that. Its time you had some fun, girl! Forget him! Look around; there are so many cute guys around this place! Open your eyes, dearie!

“It's true. Time I got over bloody Potter! I don't even like him! Watch out Albania, here I come!” Lily said to herself, before turning around to see her cousin waving out to her. (Conveniently accompanied by a few cute guys!)

She promptly turned around to jog over to her cousin, reaching wherein she was promptly introduced to her cousin's friends, Peter Warring, Kris Carter, Vernon Dursley and Mira Patel.

Peter was a handsome guy with chocolate brown eyes and sandy brown hair. His reasonably good height and build would make him an instant favorite for Mr.Albania, had there been such a competition, Lily thought. She didn't miss the adoring look Lisa gave Peter as she introduced Lily to him. Out of bounds!

Kris was just the definition of conventional good looks with his blue eyes and blonde hair. His arm wrapped around Mira, whom Lily supposed was his girlfriend, he politely said “Hi, How do you do?” as he was introduced to her. He and Mira make a good pair, Lily thought. It was true. Mira was the opposite of conventional good looks; her long silky black hair, made their way down her back. She was blessed with a dusky complexion and long dark eyelashes adorned her dark brown eyes. Somehow, the two people, who looked so unlike each other, seemed to compliment each other. They didn't find the need to act as though they were madly in love with each other, or drool over each other as Lily had seen some couples at Hogwarts do, but there was a look in their eyes, which betrayed the feelings they had for each other.

Vernon Dursley, on the other hand was a bulky boy with an unusually short neck. Looks didn't seem to be his department, and for that matter, neither did interesting conversation. He seemed unusually proud of himself, or of his father's drill company, the name of which meant as much as “Brrjaaklw” to Lily, but he evidently expected her to recognize it. She acted like she did. It didn't miss her that Petunia seemed oddly fascinated by Vernon Dursley and his drill company. Whatever! She can have him!

Lily turned around to face the sea once more; a certain dark haired boy catching her eye. He was exploring the caves in the far end of the beach, moving about silently, so much so that he would have hardly been noticed by Lily, had it not been for her unusually sharp sight. She moved closer to him to see him properly. No doubt, he was unusually handsome. The pale faced, dark haired boy had unusually sharp eyes. There was something about those eyes that intrigued Lily; there was some craving, some deep desire to achieve something, hidden beneath the mischievous glint in his eyes. Pushing her thoughts aside, she got up to leave planning to go surfing. Looking back at the caves, she found that the dark haired boy had vanished.

She was surfing deep in the sea, when suddenly an unusually large wave knocked her over, sending her spluttering and drowning her under water. Wheezing, she tried to make her way upward to the surface, but was unable to swim due to the currents pushing her downward. Lily panicked, thrashing the water uncontrollably. She was in a state of delirium when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her up along with them. After a few minutes, Lily's head broke out into open air and she inhaled deeply, eyes closed. She allowed herself to be pulled into a boat, breathing heavily. After around five minutes, she opened her eyes and sat up, to find herself staring into those very pair of eyes that had intrigued her earlier. The craving in his eyes had been replaced by a concerned look; he was concerned for her.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, thanks a lot! I don't know what I would have done without you! I thought I was going to die!” Lily said to her rescuer

“I was worried you weren't going to be okay myself. Are you sure you don't want to see a doctor?” He said as he directed the sail boat towards the coast

“Yeah, I'm ok! I'm Lily Evans, by the way!”

“That's good.” He nodded. Then he added as an afterthought “I'm Tom. Tom Riddle”

For some reason, the name struck Lily as familiar. I've heard that name somewhere. But where? Whatever...

“Cool! So, Tom, Do you live here or are you here for a holiday?” She asked her handsome companion

“Just in the whereabouts… I'll be here for a few days, I suppose” He grinned

“Great! I'm here for a few days too! How about you hang out with us for those few days?” She smiled at him brightly, the smile she reserved only for times when she really wanted something badly.

“Err…Lily, I don't think…” He faltered as he saw her bright smile

“Oh c'mon, Tom! I'm gonna be stuck with three couples otherwise, and believe me I DO NOT enjoy public displays of affections!” She mimed vomiting into the sea.

This was a lie, of course. She was only with one couple, Peter and Lisa were not going out and neither were Petunia and Vernon. And Mira and Kris were far from displaying ANY affection publicly. But Lily figured that Peter and Lisa, and Petunia and Vernon would probably hook up sooner than later and hence she was right in trying to find someone to give her some company. And he was cute…

He chuckled. “Alright, I'll give you company! Only because I don't like public displays of affection either!”

They had reached the shore by then and Lily jumped out of the boat excitedly, pulling Tom out along with her. He was too heavy for her and she somehow managed to entangle herself in him and they rolled onto the beach. Disentangling herself, she pulled herself up, “Come on!! I'll race you to the other end!” she said before she began to run towards the other end of the beach.

Tom shook his head, laughing at her childishness before he hoisted himself up, following the red head whose hair was whipping wildly behind her. He caught up with as they reached the end of the beach, “No fair! You got a head start!” he called out.

She laughed in reply, only sprinting ahead. “Oh yeah?! Two can play this game!” He said as he caught the petite red-head by the waist and swung her wildly in the air before she could reach the finish line, laughing as she thrashed at him wildly in an attempt to free herself.

He finally put her down on the ground and both of them lay down on the sandy floor, panting heavily, yet smiles adorning their faces.

“So, do you want to meet my friends?” Lily asked Tom who was still panting.

He grinned. “Sure, why not?” he said, unconsciously imitating a dialogue used by Lily earlier that day.

******

An hour later, Lily found herself seated comfortably on a beach chair with Lisa, Petunia and Mira seated nearby. They had all liked Tom immensely, and he had immediately hit it off with the boys who had dragged him off for a surfing match, Lily's eyes following only Tom who had immediately changed into beach shorts and taken off his shirt. She was smiling rather stupidly when Lisa slapped her hand.

“Stop drooling, Lil!” she said teasingly

“I'm not drooling!” Lily replied indignantly, trying in vain to hide the blush that was creeping up her cheeks.

“Nice find, Lily! He's hot! I think I might dump Kris! ” Mira smiled at her

Lily whirled around to face Mira. “But...” She smiled when saw Mira's wicked smile. “Shut up, Mira!”

“Really Lil, I didn't know your taste was this good!” Petunia grinned

“Taste in what?!” Tom said approaching Lily from the back.

“Oh… ummm nothing, nothing at all” Lily spluttered, clearly caught off guard.

He bent down to whisper in her ear, “Oh really?!”

She smacked him on his head, laughing as he withdrew quickly, and said “Yes, really!”

It was around 6'o'clock by then, and the sun was about to set. The beach seemed really beautiful, and the rain clouds scattered over them just made the scene even more picturesque.

“Say, Lily, Do you want to go into the water? Not very deep, just neck high!” Tom asked her.

“Sure, I'd love it!” Lily got up in a jiffy “Hey, guys, we're going into the beach, anybody else coming?”

They all shook their heads, and Lily caught Mira giving Kris a shy smile as she and Tom whirled about walking towards the sea.

“They're probably heading for a snogging session and don't want us to disturb them!” Tom smiled, voicing her thoughts.

Lily laughed, and caught the hand that Tom had offered her saying “I don't want you to be swept away by the waves, princess!”

The minute the two set foot into the water, it began to drizzle lightly. Lily smiled as she faced upwards, and the tiny raindrops fell on her mouth. He has such an amazing grip; wow! She felt some kind of a constriction in her chest as she inhaled, unable to believe that she was holding hands with the most handsome guy in the beach!

An hour later, the two walked out of the beach awkwardly letting go of each others hands, both of them feeling sorry to let go. They had had an amazing time. Five minutes into the sea, they had been joined by another couple at a distance and had had an unspoken friendly competition as to who would venture farther into the sea. Needless to say, Tom and Lily, both of them being amazing swimmers, had won. Soon the rain had stopped and a rainbow had appeared the setting sun and the rainbow in the sky forming the most picturesque scene Lily had ever witnessed in her life. She finally knew the meaning of satisfaction and content as they gazed at the setting sun, their hands interwoven into each others.

She had never done this before…. Lily had never let her closest friends even touch her and for her, holding hands with a guy whom she just met, seemed like part of an impossible dream. Out of all the girls she knew, Lily Evans was one who always thought before she did something. She DID NOT drool over guys, She DID NOT walk into the sea with strangers. But something about Tom intrigued her; it might be the way he held her hand… gently but firmly. He was like alcohol; she knew she would suffer from a hangover the next day but that didn't stop her from drinking. Being with him made her impulsive… for the first time in her LIFE, she threw caution in the air. It was not the past in her mind, nor did she think of the consequences of her actions. She didn't weigh the Pros and Cons of her deeds, nor did she worry about anything. When she was with him… She just WAS…

That night, as Lily lay in her bed, for the first time in a year, she was not haunted by thoughts of a certain hazel-eyed boy…. Thoughts of James had been replaced by thoughts of a new guy in her life…. A dark haired stranger, who had incidentally saved her life…

~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Alright, I know a lot many of you might not like this, but Tom Riddle was a human being once…! And I hope you understand Lily's position, She doesn't know who he is, She thinks he's a harmless handsome muggle… Please Review, even if you absolutely hated it!