Hello! First thing's first: a BIG BIG BIG thank you to JessandDarcy, MKaseyM, Lara, SnowandJames4eva, Jannice Sace, Seraband, and the two other guests who reviewed! That is by far the most reviews I've ever gotten for a chapter and I was so freaking excited!
And, to answer Jannice Sace's question, my updates will depend on what's going on. Right now, I work either eight or fifteen hour days to pay for college and then I'll actually be in school, so I'm going to see how that all goes. My goal is two a month, more if I can!
Anyways, here is chapter 10(:
Lily POV
"Merlin, Lils," James said from the bottom of the stairs, "how much do you bring on trips?"
"Well, James," I answered petulantly while trying to balance two suitcases and a knapsack, "I would pack a lot less if someone would tell me where we were going!"
"Oh, hush up, Lilybean," Remus said, breezing through the atrium, "it would ruin the surprise if we told you where we were going."
"I swear it is impossible to ruin surprises for me! I'm like a kid on Christmas, easily excited at the smallest of things!"
"Yeah well, I like giving people surprises," James said while grabbing my suitcases and heading out towards the front lawn.
"C'mon Lils!" Sirius called from outside. He was bouncing around like a puppy that smells meat; it was rather pathetic.
"I'm coming, boys! Give a girl a moment, jeez," I huffed before closing the door behind me. Two weeks had passed since the food fight, in those two weeks the boys had gone into massive planning mode. Yesterday, they had announced their intention to take me on a small vacation and told me to pack…without any guidelines. It was rather obvious none of them had sisters.
"So can I know where we're going now?" I asked as we all joined hands on the front lawn.
"We're going to be there in about a second, Lils," Remus said with a chuckle, "I think you can wait."
James POV
In another moment, we had landed in the clearing. Remus and Sirius were literally shaking with excitement. I knew almost as little as Lils about this trip; it was truly the brainchild of Sirius and Remus. Trees surrounded the 100 meter wide clearing, I would have felt trapped save the flowers growing amongst the trees and the faint breeze felt in the clearing. Apparently we weren't as isolated as we seemed.
"Okay, first thing is first!" Sirius yelled in excitement, "we put together the tent."
As he was saying this, Remus was already in the process of setting up the tent. After a brief bout of fighting and clever use of a few spells the tent was erected.
"Um, guys?" Lily said dubiously, "I don't mean to be a downer, but there is no way that tent is going to fit all of us."
The three of us looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
"God, Lily," I wheezed, "are you or are you not a witch?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Wait a moment," Sirius said, "are you really trying to tell me that you've never seen a magical tent?"
"What's so magical about a few square feet of canvas?"
Sirius looked personally insulted, "everything, my dear! Step inside."
I walked in after Lily and couldn't help but chuckle when I heard her intake of breath.
"It's, it's-"
"FUCKING FANTASTIC!" Sirius said before jumping into the room and claiming bed. I had to admit, the tent was nice. In the front room, there was a loveseat and two armchairs, over in the kitchen there was a little breakfast nook as well as a table with four chairs. Near the back was a washroom big enough for the four of us to use simultaneously. Over in the other corner sat four beds all pointing in to each other, I could see Sirius picking this arrangement so that we could gossip into the night like children.
"Okay, everyone put your stuff down, grab a bed, then head to the kitchen for a meeting in five minutes."
Remus took the bed next to Sirius, leaving me next to Lily, not that I minded. Remus immediately headed into the kitchen leaving Lily and I to pack our stuff away.
"Have you really never seen a tent like this?" I asked in amazement.
"Never," she said, equally as awed, "When I went camping we stayed in a regular tent."
"Regular tent?"
"Don't tell me you've never seen a muggle tent?" she said, shocked.
"When would I have seen a muggle tent? Pureblood, remember?"
"Well," she said, putting her mountains of clothes in to the chests under her bed, "a muggle tent has no expansion charm on it, it is the size if appears to be on the outside, and there is no running water or beds or anything else you can think of."
"We should muggle camp some time!"
"I don't know, I'm not sure you could hack it…" she said with a smirk.
"Oh please! I could muggle camp with one hand tied behind my back."
"I'm holding you to that, we'll see if that's true during Christmas break. And when I say that there is nothing in a muggle tent, I mean there is no heating either." She said before skipping into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.
"So," Sirius said as I came up to the table, "the plan for tonight is simple. I shall single handedly cook dinner-
At this there were multiple protests which Sirius silenced with a high pitched scream before continuing, "as I was SAYING I will be cooking dinner alone. After that, we shall make s'mores like muggles do, then we shall sing a plethora of songs while holding hands and swaying around the fire. After that I will tell many horror stories and then when I have you all sufficiently terrified, we shall retire for the evening!"
I laughed at Sirius' half formal way of speaking as did the other two, all in all though, the plan sounded great.
"So what are we supposed to do while you cook?"
"Go outside and set up the camp fire, we can eat out there." Lily nodded obligingly and went outside to start collecting fire wood. I was about to get up and leave when I saw Sirius and Remus exchange an excited glance.
"What was that about?" I said with interest, "why did you two just look at each other like that?"
They looked at each other again, "like what, James?" Sirius said.
"Like that! Like you have some giant secret that I can't know about!"
"I think you're seeing things, mate," Remus said with concern before getting up and heading outside.
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "just go outside for a little, catch some fresh air."
"Tosser," I muttered before making my way outside.
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After an hour of foraging for kindle and wood, Sirius called us back inside.
"Dinner is served!" I looked at the table he had set up and laughed.
Spread out around us were all the worst possible foods the American muggle world had to offer: Hershey chocolate bars, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, french fries (though I have no idea how Sirius fried them, chicken tenders, hamburgers, corn dogs, cheese steaks, ice cream, and a few things that I didn't really have a name for.
"How did you do all of this?" Lily asked in wonder.
"Ask me no questions, I shall tell you no lies." She shook her head at him before sitting down and digging in. We all followed her example shortly. It might sound weird, but watching Lily eat was strangely hot. Most girls from school would only eat small portions because they didn't want to look like 'pigs' in front of the lads; Lily didn't care about that. She ate and she didn't care who saw; the confidence she had in herself and her body was refreshing and attractive.
The food was delicious, so I obviously assumed that Sirius hadn't cooked any of it. We ate in a silence only achieved through extreme hunger, none of us really minded. Within a half hour the mountains of food in front of us had disappeared and our bellies had all grown at least a few inches in diameter.
"Sirius I must say, that was delicious," I said in contentment
"Here here!" Remus cheered.
"What did you think Lils?" Sirius asked a tad anxiously. And then it hit me. He had tried to cheer her up in his own way. We all could tell that she missed home very much and so Sirius had tried to bring home to her.
She smiled in her Lily way before answering, "it was delicious, Sirius. It was just what I needed."
"Good," he said with a self-satisfied smile, "I'm glad you liked it."
"Although," she said with a smile, "I'm regretting the sheer amount I ate. I don't think I could stuff s'mores into my stomach at this point."
"Oh give it a moment," I said with a laugh, "you'll be able to eat again soon."
I was proven right three hours later. The sun had gone down as the four of us sat outside attempting to light a fire.
"Where are the bloody matches?" I muttered in annoyance, "can no one get this fire going?" Sirius and Remus were equally as annoyed with our situation. Lily walked out from the tent in her pajamas and laughed at all of us.
"Now who is forgetting they are magical?" she said with a smirk. She pulled her wand out with a flourish and in another instant, the fire was lit.
"Well," I said sitting back in my chair, "we're all idiots."
"You can say that again," Lily smirked before sitting down next to me. I glared at her but she just stuck her tongue out at me and began to unwrap the ingredients for the s'mores.
"Okay, who wants a marshmallow?"
"OH ME ME ME!" Sirius shouted like the five year old he was, "I want one!"
"One for Sirius," Lily murmured while putting his marshmallow on a stick. She handed it to him and within a moment, he had it charred to a crisp.
"Mmmm," he sighed in appreciation, "just the way I like it."
The rest of us exchanged glances before heating up our own marshmallows. Between the four of us, we went through fifteen bars of chocolate, a whole box of graham crackers and a bag of marshmallows; we sat in contented silence for about fifteen minutes after that before someone had the ability to form words.
"That was," Remus said
"awesome." Sirius finished, "And now it's time for scary stories!"
"I think that's my cue to go to bed," Lily said before standing.
"What? No! Lils, you're going to miss the best part!"
"If I stay for the scary stories then there is no chance of me falling asleep, I'll be miserable all night."
I rolled my eyes, didn't that already happen anyways?
"Night, boys!" she said before heading inside.
Lily POV
"Oh!" I woke with a start, tears streaming down my face. It was happening again and I didn't know how to stop it. I tried not to think about my parents so I wouldn't end up like this, but no matter what I did it always happened. My dream always ended with the same flash of light, the last thing I imagine they saw before they weren't anymore. Usually I tried to wipe the tears away and go back to sleep, but not tonight. I don't think the boys realized how much this camping trip made me think of my parents. We used to make s'mores together and tell stories to the early hours of the morning. That's why I really went to bed early, things were getting just a bit too close for comfort. I looked around the beds, it appeared everyone else was asleep. Slowly so as not to wake them, I made my way outside.
I opened the tent flap to a surprising sight; James staring pensively into the fire.
He looked up when he heard me, his expression changing from thoughtful to concerned in an instant.
"Lily? What's wrong?" He was half out of his chair before I waved him back in it.
"It's nothing, James, nothing. Sorry for disturbing you, I'll just go back to bed."
"Like hell you will, Lils, please tell me what's wrong." He seemed so sincere, so concerned that I started crying for a second time tonight.
"Oh, James," I said before sinking to the ground by the fire, "I just can't anymore."
"Lily," he said soothingly, finding me in the half light of the fire. He sat down next to me, not quite touching but close enough that I could feel his warmth.
I grabbed his hand as the tears continued to pour down my face. We sat in silence for a long time before I had arranged my thoughts enough to speak. Alice's last letter kept running through my mind, "Lily, you know I love you and would never make you do anything you don't want to, but you should really tell the boys. I can tell you love them and it seems like they love you. I know it'll be hard babe, but you have to work on letting people in." She was right, it was time to let someone in.
James POV
"When I was in eighth grade," she said in a shaky voice, "my parents died." I drew a sharp breath, I couldn't help it; never in a million years did I think Lily's tragedy would be so closely related to mine.
"It was the late fall, so I was already in school. One day in the middle of study hall Mrs. Gilbert came into the room and called me into her office. I thought I was in trouble, no one got called to Gilly's office unless they were in massive amounts of trouble. I was shaking the entire way there. Looking back on it, I should've known it was coming. Usually she yells at people, but she was so kind to me, asking if I wanted anything to drink or eat."
I stayed silent, I knew the courage that it was taking Lily to tell me this and I also knew that if she stopped she might not be able to start again.
" 'Lily', she said, 'I have some bad news. Your mother and father were driving to New York for a book festival last night when they were hit head on by an eighteen wheeler. They died instantly.' That's all she said, she tore apart my entire world in three sentences. I didn't quite believe her at first, I told her my parents weren't supposed to head out to the book festival until tomorrow so she must have gotten them confused with two other people. She gave me the most pitying look before shoving today's paper in my face. There faces were on the front cover; 'Local Man and Woman Killed in Truck Accident'.
"I don't really remember much after that. I know I must've ran to my dorm because the next thing I remember Alice was there, holding me. I think we stayed like that for at least twenty-four hours; me crying and her holding me. She never once complained, just held me and murmured into my ear. Eventually Gilly came into the dorm and packed some clothes for me, she tried to get me to leave but I refused to go without Alice. I'm pretty sure I threw my mirror at Gilly until she relented and let Alice come home with me.
"The funeral was terrible. It couldn't be open casket, their bodies were too mangled. Within five days they were buried and I no longer had parents. Ever since then I've been spending breaks being shuffled from house to house all around the world. Every time I go somewhere new I get the same pitying looks from family members. Even most places in America, my parents were well known in most circles and everyone always tells me how sorry they are, even now."
I don't think she had noticed, but during that entire story, she had been scooting closer to me. We were so connected that I just picked her up and set her in my lap, she took a ragged breath and leaned her head on my chest.
"That's what my nightmares are about. I just imagine their last conversation and then there is a flash of bright white light and then I'm alone."
There was nothing I could say, I knew from experience. I just squeezed her so that she knew I was there, I was real. We sat like that for a long while before I spoke.
"My parents were killed this past year. It was the end of February. They were on a secret mission. Another auror in their department was tortured and then given Veritaserum, within eighteen hours the Death Eaters had ambushed my parents and killed them. My Da tried to protect my mum, but it didn't do any good. They killed them both either way. No one knows, they think my parents are either sick or still on a mission; no one but Sirius, Remus, Peter, Dumbledore, Moody, and now you."
Silence surrounded us again. We didn't need words, the presence of the other was all the comfort necessary. Lily was the first person besides Sirius who could really understand what I felt and while I was sad that she had to experience the same trauma I had, I was happy that I could help her through her pain just as she could help me through mine.
"Thank you James."
"What for? I didn't do anything," I murmured into her hair. In this moment, the boundaries between Lily and I were changing, she leaned back into me and let the last of the tension leave her body; if I kissed her right now, I knew she would not complain. But there would be plenty of time for that later, for now, the comfort found in each other was enough.
"Yes you did. You didn't try to compare our situations; you didn't apologize for what happened, you just let me talk. I trusted you and then you trusted me, that's more than I ever could have hoped for. "
"Right back at ya, Lils," I said before we lapsed into silence again. The space around us was charged with energy. We both knew that things had changed between us but we would let our story unfold in time. I had thought we were close before, but that was nothing compared to now. We had let each other into the most secret part of ourselves; we had nothing left to lose. Now, we would help build each other back up. There was plenty of time to work through all the emotions and ask any questions, there was plenty of time to cry and lament; for now, we simply were, and that was more than enough.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! I hope to have the next chapter posted within two weeks. I need to write the next Forever and Almost Always chapter and once that is done I'll write another chapter for this story.
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