Once again, I realize that I have five or six open stories at the moment, but this one would just not leave me alone, so I decided to post it! Anyway, I hope you like it! And please review!!!!!!

Happy Reading,

mystrymoviebrunette

Who Knew

Chapter 1: Stolen Part I

"Bartender!" James slurred, swaying on the spot. "More fire whiskey…"

"Mate, don't you think you've had enough?" Sirius said, who just so happened to be the bartender, eyeing him warily.

"Hey," James said, leaning over the counter a little too far, "hey, hey. Do you see Lily right here?" He pointed at the clearly vacant seat next to him.

Sirius sighed. He had heard more than enough about Lily throughout the course of this evening, not to mention for the past couple of months. Not that he didn't love Lily, but James talking about her meant that he wasn't getting over her. James had come to his bar every Friday night for the past five months and just binged for a night, trying to forget about Lily before going back his life, where he acted like nothing was wrong.

"No," he sighed, knowing what James's response would be.

"Then I haven't had enough," James said, banging the shot glass down on the counter.

"Prongs, drinking yourself into a stupor won't bring Lily back," Sirius said.

"You're right," James said cross-eyedly, but looking entirely serious and sad. "But the more I drink… the less I think about Lily."

"That's it," Sirius said, taking the shot glass away from James.

"Oh, you…." James said, watching him take away his shot glass sadly, burping. "Yuck…"

"So help me God, if you throw up in here, it will be the last thing you ever do in here," Sirius said angrily.

"Oh Padfoot…" James said, shaking a limp hand at him. "Since when did you loose your edge."

"About the same time you lost your mind," Sirius said, spotting his replacement. "C'mon Prongs, my shift is over. I'm taking you home."

"Aw…. do I have to?" James said, stumbling over himself as he attempted to get off the chair. "Whoa."

"Jack!" Sirius shouted at his replacement, waving him over. "Take over. I gotta go."

"Okay," Jack said, going behind the counter.

"Alright, now let's get you home," Sirius said, apparating with James back to their apartment.

The next morning James woke up to the world's most gigantic headache. He never got sick from a hangover, but he felt nauseous as all hell. Every part of his body felt leaden and heavy, like overnight they'd doubled or tripled in weight. All in all, he generally felt like shit.

"Mmmmm," he groaned into his pillow, hating himself for drinking so much.

A knock came at his bedroom door, aggravating his headache. It sounded like it was being amplified a million times to mind-crushing volume.

"Ugh…" James grunted. "Come in."

The door swung open and Scarlett appeared, carrying a platter with a full breakfast. On normal mornings, he'd be singing hosanna to get a breakfast like this, especially from Scarlett—who happened to be a fantastic cook, but rarely ever cooked breakfast. But this morning it was just making his hangover nausea worse.

"Look what I made," Scarlett said in a sing-song voice, setting the platter down on James's nightstand.

"What time is it?" James muttered.

"3:30 pm," she said cheerily. "Okay, I made pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, toast, ham, orange juice—"

"Hey Scar," James said, propping himself up with great difficulty. "You're my cousin, and I love you and all, but if you don't stop naming food I'm gonna barf on you."

"—and best of all," she said, grinning as she pulled a vial of bubbling purple potion out of her pocket.

"You are an angel," James gushed, taking the vial from her and swallowing it all in one gulp. "Ah…" he said, feeling the nausea begin to subside the moment the potion hit his stomach. He grinned at Scarlett. "Did you ever know that you're my hero…"

"Oh god James," Scarlett said, cringing yet laughing at the same time.

"… and everything I would like to be… "

"James, stop singing," Scarlett begged. "Only Bette Midler can pull off that song."

"… I can fly higher than an eagle…"

"James, you're gonna make me nauseous!" Scarlett said, half cracking up, half pleading.

"You are the wind beneath my wings…" James finished with a goofy grin.

"You are an idiot," she sighed, shaking her head and barely concealing the grin on her face.

"And you are the wind beneath my wings," James said, acting silly.

"Here, you're obviously feeling better, so eat," she said, setting the platter before him. James, suddenly ravenous, began to devour the feast.

"James, you can't keep doing this," Scarlett said, suddenly very quiet and serious.

"Doing what?" James said offhandedly, trying to get Scarlett to drop the subject.

"Going out and getting completely obliterated over Lily," she said.

His spirits immediately fell, and he felt his momentary happiness from his goofy singing evaporate on the spot. That was how it always happened now. It wasn't that he was constantly miserable. He wasn't. He had the potential to be happy at times. He even was happy at times. But that was all he'd get: a couple seconds of simple happiness before he heard Lily's name and he'd feel his heart plunge back into the misery that he felt from her leaving. Most people would say he was lucky, to get these moments of happiness at all. But he saw them as a curse, the constant taunt reminding him that these moments were all he got. Now that Lily was gone, they were all he got.

"Thanks Scar," James said, setting down his fork with a clatter.

"James, goddammit, you have to let yourself get over her!" Scarlett said strongly. James was basically her brother, and her best friend. She hated seeing him so miserable. And she hated Lily, her other best friend, for putting him here. She wanted things to be like they were before, she wanted the four of them—Sirius, James, Lily and herself—to be what they used to be. It seemed an impossible dream now, after Lily had up and left them, left James. "I'm not telling you that you have to get over her right away, but at least stop doing this to yourself! Stop getting drunk and pining after her! You have to accept the fact that she's not coming back!"

"Scarlett, don't you think I know?" James said, frustrated. "Don't you think I've told myself this a million times before? I know she's not coming back! I know she doesn't love me! But that doesn't make it any easier! It doesn't make me stop loving her, as much as I wished it would! And don't pretend to know what this is like, Scar! You've never had the person you love more than anything in the whole world, who you'd lay down your life for, up and leave you for a fucking job!"

"James, I'm sorry," she said quietly after letting his shouts disappear. "I didn't mean… I just hate that this happened to you."

"I know," James said softly, trying to smile.

"I don't want you to act like everything's okay," she told him gently. "Because it's not. What happened to you wasn't fair or right. And you have the right to be angry and sad and sit home moping. It's okay to let life get you down sometimes. But you can't let it keep you down. After a certain point, you have to dust yourself off and keep going." She said nothing for a moment. "It doesn't have to be now. But I'm afraid if you don't start to get up soon, you won't ever."

"Okay." James nodded. Scarlett smiled gently, hugging him before leaving the room.

James picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled on it as he thought. As much as he hated to admit it, Scarlett was right. He was stuck in this place, this vast expanse of nothingness where the only thing that could be found was bittersweet memories and heartache. And Lily. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see her face, haunting him with the dream what might have been. She was everywhere, in everything he saw and everything he felt. He hated it; he hated being constantly reminded of the beautiful, smart, wonderful girl who'd stolen his heart, only to break it. And at the same time, he didn't want it to end. This was the only way to feel like he had a piece of Lily with him, that his obsession with her made him feel like she wasn't really gone. It was the sole connection to Lily he had left, and as much as he hated it, he loved it.

But Scarlett was right. Lily had made it very clear that they were over, and sitting alone in his room all his life, mourning the loss of his first love, would not make her come back. He wanted to be happy. He wanted to be in love again, and the good kind, not this sorry obsession with Lily.

He was determined to be happy, he decided, getting out of bed. With or without Lily.

Okay, I realize it may be a little hard to tell where this is going right now, but trust me, you'll see soon.

Now review people!

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