*Chapter Seven*
Sun, Fun, and a Divorce of Lily's Friendship... Again...
Lily Evans lay up in her room, her door locked, and herself sprawled across her stomach on her old feather bed, a small crystal globe in her hands. She was gazing at it with a fixed stare, and she carried a dead atmosphere around herself.
"Lillian, dinner's ready, hon, come on downstairs, okay?" Lily didn't move in response to her mother's calling. She had already wasted one week of her summer, and she was still feeling terrible about how she had ended the year. Her relation with Peter and Sirius, as well as Anne, Raye and Elizabeth remained as always, but with Remus she had been moving downhill... because in all honesty, the only person she'd been thinking about was James Potter....
She couldn't possibly have been in worse spirits, and she felt just about ready to poison herself... or maybe drown herself, she certainly deserved the pain. It was sort of frightening that a twelve year old girl would be contemplating suicide. But, then again, it wasn't all that usual procedure that by the mere age of twelve complex love triangles and circles would have been developing underneath the surface of Lily's previously average and normal childhood.
"Lily, dear, your dinner's going to be cold by the time you get down here! Please come on down!" Lily rolled her eyes, then pulled open her drawers and grabbed out an oversized tee shirt and stuffed it underneath the gap between her door and the raggedy carpeting. The sound of her mother's calls muffled, she flopped backwards back onto her bed, hitting her head upon the globe.
Wincing in pain, she grabbed the globe from underneath of herself and chucked it emotionlessly across the room. Emotion quickly surfaced as one of the lilies tore, and a sharp crack began running down the side of the crystal. She let out a scream and dashed over to the globe, picking it up and soothing it.
"Oh, hold on, it'll be okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you... dear lord, I'm talking to an inanimate object... god have I reached an all time low." She placed the globe back onto her desk and pulled over a chair and gazed into the orb. She noticed that the Lily in her crystal world was standing with her back turned on the opposite end of the stone ground than the back turned James. Lily let out a cryptic laugh. "That's comforting..."
There came a sudden knocking against glass, and Lily thought for a moment that her globe was cracking further, but she quickly realized that it was at her window.
There was a tawny owl outside of her window.
Lily couldn't help but let a grin spread stupidly across her face, and she head dived for the window, bouncing back off of the glass, and falling to the ground. If the owl could have rolled it's eyes at that moment, it may very well have. Lily gave herself a pat on the head, then lifted up the window and let the owl fly into the window. Almost immediately, she bounded atop the owl, wrestling away it's letter. The owl let out a shrill shriek of terror, then darted out of the window, half of it's feathers sticking up in the wrong direction.
Lily allowed herself a grin. She tore open the long awaited letter and read it aloud.
Hey Lily,
Hi... er, it's James, but I reckon you
probably recognized my owl, eh? I haven't sent you quite as many owls as
I did last year, but as you didn't break my jaw last year, you're going
to have to break even with me on that one.
A red tint overtook Lily's face, and she frowned upon the comment, but she kept reading.
Anyway, you've been pestering poor Moony
for quite some time now about having you over, and he's caved. You're invited.
Don't ask me why I'm extending the invite, Remus just thinks that this
would be an amusing sort of thing for him to ponder later. He knows. But,
then again, when you're entire face is covered with blood, someone has
to take you to the Hospital Wing, correct? Don't fret, I told him not why
you hit me... he just thinks you were being yourself.
What a fetching friend you've got, eh Lily?
I realize that this was a long and tedious
message, but arrive in a few days time (or now, if you'd like, I suppose
it really depends upon the owl's speed, doesn't it?) as I've already informed
Remus of your coming.
If you don't show, I'll be murdered. You
owe me.
Love Always,
James
Lily laughed good-naturedly and added the letter to her collection within one of her desk drawers. Then she grabbed a piece of parchment and a spare quill, sucked on the tip for a moment, then scribbled down hurried words.
James Dear,
Hello. Nice of you to finally write me.
I didn't hurt you when I fractured a tiny segment of your bone, did I?
I really shouldn't come, I think it'd be
a nice addition to Moony's home, your head hanging over his mantle. Don't
worry, I'd come for your body with a plastic bag, no fear. However, as
I've been nothing short of miserable the entire summer, I'll be arriving
within the next few hours... well, I suppose that it's possible you'll
get this after I arrive, but my owl can handle it. She's more brilliant
than yourself, I can tell you that much.
I know where Remus lives. I don't know
how to get their. Wish me luck!
Forever Yours,
Lily
The quill quivered, then fell to the desk with exhaustion. Lily grinned with satisfaction, then sealed the letter shut with a wad of gum she's been chewing prior to receiving James' letter. She stalked over to her owl's perch, where her snowy beauty was currently resting. She prodded her in the chest.
"Come on, wake up, I've got a job for you..." The snowy owl's electric blue eyes batted sleepily, but she let out a yawn, stretched her wings, and lifted her leg. "Good girl, Mercedes." She tied the letter on quickly, then gave her a stroke down her back. The owl let out a coo, then soared out of the window.
Lily sighed, then grinned. She unlocked her
door, and pulled out the shirt. She opened her door, made a short walk
to the stairway, and called down, "So, Mum, what were you saying about
dinner?"
Mrs. Evans groaned as the fourth hour in the non air conditioned Ford passed unmercifully. "I cannot believe you talked me into this..." Lily too was growing uncomfortable in the sticky seats, but she was trying to hide her discomfort from her mother.
"Come on, it has to be this neighborhood, think reasonably."
Mrs. Evans rolled her eyes. "Funny, you said that exact thing two and a half hours ago, what makes this one any different?"
Lily wasn't listening, she had already propped open her door. "Oi! Mum, right here, this is it!" Little after she had said that, she felt belittled by the house - or rather, manor's appearance. It towered high above the ground, and was surrounded by acres of flowering field and forest. And the home was a beautiful marble, with gorgeously polished stone pillars supporting gracious balconies. Lily was simply in awe, but she had little time to gape.
"Lily! Hey!" Lily spun around and found herself face to face with James. Instantly, she felt her knees weaken, and she felt her face go up in flame. James was looking queerly at her.
"You sick or something, Lily?" She shook her head, tucking her hair back, and ran over to the front of the house, inches away from James.
"Eh... nice to, erm, see you again." She extended an extremely sweaty and shaky hand. She tried a grin, but couldn't get her muscles to work properly.
James rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Lily, you're not still afraid that I'm going to make a move on you again, do you? I like my nose where it is." Lily managed a laugh.
"Sorry, James, it's just, somewhat awkward, though I'd expect it more awkward for yourself... but you're not the one with a social retardation at the moment, are you?" James shook his head sadly.
"Listen, maybe you should just come inside, the rest of us are in there, waiting for you. Just don't treat them like you just did to me, or they might kick you out. All right?" He grinned at her, then grabbed her arm and led her up the front stairs.
There was a loud explosion, followed by the laughter of several boys. "Honestly, you three, what's so amusing about these games?" The girl who had just spoken gave out a sigh, then turned to face Lily and James. "Oh, Lily, you made it, hello!"
"Anne?" Lily glanced curiously around, first to our Marauders, then to Anne, and then back to James. Lowering her voice a considerable amount, she asked James in an irritated voice, "What just happened that I missed? Why is Anne here?"
A startled and somewhat embarrassed look crossed James's face. "Eh, well, Lily... after you kind of... fractured my face... you sort of... secluded yourself from the rest of us. Please don't blame any of us, but... Anne melded in, and she took your place. Not permanently, but we just found something in her... and now..."
Lily just shook her head with disbelief. "I just - I can't believe I was replaced."
James frowned. "You weren't replaced! Look, you're back, aren't you?"
Fury was sweeping over Lily like a gust of hot air. "How the hell is she supposed to work? She has nothing in common with you four! How am I supposed to be -- Lily -- with another girl around?"
An eyebrow was raised by James, and a smile crossed his face. "You're jealous, aren't you? You don't want competition... Lily, don't take any offense, but when it comes to being the lady of the group, Anne fits your shoes better than you yourself did."
"I was never the girl! I was just another one of the guys... with a butt..." Lily's face went brick red. "And a nice one, too, mind you!" James smirked.
"Well, let's think, you're a cute little girl,
who beats people up, teases them, calls them swear words that even Sirius
wouldn't repeat. You aren't our little Lily anymore."
Angry beyond all reason, and raising her voice a good deal, she shouted towards James, "Well, you weren't exactly thinking along those lines when you cornered me and tried to kiss me, WERE YOU?!"
Another explosion went off, but you could have heard a pin drop, even on the velvet carpeting of Remus' home, after the explosive device settled, and all eyes were upon James and Lily, Lily whose teeth were bared in fury, and James who had gone from red to deathly pale in two seconds. Everyone in the room froze, watching those two.
Sirius broke the silence. "Oh... I get it!" He grinned at the rest of them. "James tried to kiss her, and that's why she broke his jaw! It's all coming together, am I genius or what?"
Lily stopped breathing. Her mouth shut, and her face slowly drained of color. Both James and Lily were unmoving. Finally, Lily teetered closer to James. Her lips hardly moving, she whispered one word into his ear. "Run."
He didn't need telling twice. In less than a second, the two of them had turned on their heels and had dashed out of that house with as much speed as they could gather. They reached the steps and Lily stopped for a split second to grab a pair of brooms by the door.
Running back after James, she called out, "Here, James, take a broom, we can make it away from them that way!" She tossed him one of the sticks, and she straddled the one she still held, and kicked off from the ground with such passion that she had never known.
"Come on James, hurry up, they'll be gaining on us! .... James?" She turned back to face him, he was on the same level as her, a gaunt expression on his face, but - he was standing upright. Confused, Lily looked down.
Lily's feet were still upon the ground. James rolled his eyes. "These aren't racing brooms, Lily dear. They're brooms that Remus has been using to sweep out the house. We're going to get caught. So - RUN FASTER THAN YOU'VE EVEN RUN BEFORE UNTIL YOU CAN FEEL THE HELL INSIDE OF YOU!"
James grabbed Lily's hand, and they both took a barrel roll into a shrub. Lily pulled a face. "Oh, yeah, being stuck in a green pile of thorns is much better than being asked whether or not you really did it."
James poked his tongue out at her. "Shut up, Lily."
"You."
"You."
"You."
"You."
Lily groaned. "Look, I realize that this will be much, much worse for you than me. That's exactly why I want to surrender now."
"I'm not leaving these bushes until the others are gone."
"Then we'll be in these bushes all night, as this is Remus' home, O smart one."
"I knew that."
"I'm sure."
They both pulled faces at each other, crossed their legs, and turned around. They didn't last long before Lily jabbed James in the back.
Spooked, James twirled around, his wand in his hand, and cast a freezing enchantment towards Lily. If it had been the group of boys which he had been hoping for, it would have been a great success, but no, of course, it was poor Lily. So, not only was she completely paralyzed, but a large quantity of blue light had been sparked high above both of their heads.
'Nice move,' thought Lily.
James smiled cheekily, looking as innocent
as possible. "Oops."
They didn't have to tie Lily down, after James's convenient display of fireworks. They just propped her up upon a chair, sat her upright, and let her watch as they questioned James. Although, so far, that hadn't really led to any sort of accomplishment. ("What I don't understand is why James tried to kiss her, and then attacked her...?")
James tried once again to struggle free. "So, tell me once again why you bound me to the chair?"
"So you couldn't move," answered Sirius, for most probably the hundredth time in a row.
"I could move the chair."
Peter grinned. "Which is why we bound the chair to the sofa. We're purely brilliant."
Remus groaned. "We're not getting anywhere like this..." He went over and laid himself across the couch. "I'm going to sleep, all right? You morons can wing it on your own."
Anne just squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. "Um, Remus, maybe I'm just not quite adapted to your whole little style of life, but, eh, isn't Lily your girlfriend?"
Remus looked up. "Eh... yeah, I think she is. I'm going to have to beat James up later, but right now, I'm tired." Anne fidgeted again, and looked down, trying very hard not to roll her eyes.
Lily would have pulled a face if she could have managed it. 'It's going to be a long night...'
* * * * *
"The bloody hell... look at it!" Sirius's eyes were practically dancing with glee. "Who would throw out such a thing?"
Remus set down the stone that he had been preparing to lodge at James's head. "Oh, gee, Sirius, I don't know, maybe someone who didn't want to be taken into custody by the Ministry of Magic for bewitching a Muggle item."
Sirius wasn't listening. "It's gorgeous, isn't it? It's mine!"
Lily was still having trouble with coordination. Anne was choosing to stand next to her at all times, since she seemed to have been the one which moved the least. Poor thing. "It's a motorcycle... big deal. My cousin's got one, there's nothing special about it."
James snorted. "You really are a moron, Lily, come and look just a bit closer." Lily shot a dangerous look at him, then approached the vehicle.
"I still don't quite see what's so special about the freakin motorcycle...?"
James shot Sirius a grin. "Why don't you show her what's so special about the 'freakin motorcycle.'" Sirius grinned.
Sirius jumped on top of the motorcycle, and grabbed Lily, throwing her on behind him. Lily looked around nervously at the others. "Sirius, what the hell are you going to do to me?!"
"Nothing much, Lily, just take you for a little ride - !" He twisted the locks back and as the engines revved, he shot the motorcycle straight up into the air. Lily let out a piercing scream and grabbed Sirius tightly around the waist.
"Lily! God, girl, I appreciate the affection, I mean to say, I know I'm attractive, but you're about to cut me in half!" Lily shot a look of pure evil at him.
"Black! Get me down - RIGHT - NOW!"
"Come on, have some fun, I'm just getting used to this thing!"
Lily looked down and threatened to puke. "Sirius, you're 'getting used' to a flying vehicle at about eighty feet away from the ground... can we - er - please - go down now?"
Sirius laughed, and might a tight cut behind a tree, hitting Lily in the face with a branch. "C'mon, what happened to my brave Lily? The fearless wonder who can't be replaced by Anne because she's a girl? I was talking about, Anne, by the way, not you."
Lily, in spite of herself, began to laugh. "Remind me to kill both you and James when I get down. What does Raye see in you, anyway?"
Sirius stopped in midair, almost jerking Lily off the back end. She went back to clutching his chest tightly. "Hm, you know, maybe she sees my irresistibly good looks." Lily rolled her eyes.
"When I ever fall for you for any reason whatsoever, could you please just take me on another ride up here and drop me off?"
Sirius pulled a face. "You're right... you're just jealous because Remus can't possibly compare with my manly features. Mind you, if you ever tell him that I said that, he may just skip that Whomping Willow of his and eat me alive."
Lily grinned with the thought of both Sirius' and James' heads mounted above Remus' elaborately carved fireplace next to each other, and both of their bodies in plastic baggies slung over her shoulder. "If I tell you that you're totally and completely adorable and that my Moony can't compare to you physically, will you take me down?"
He pondered the question. "How 'bout you just say it for the heck of it all?"
"Would you take me to the ground if I kissed you?"
"Can do, darling."
Lily almost fell off of the motorcycle in laughed, and she pinched Sirius. "I'd hit you, but you'd just knock me off."
Sirius grinned. "Hey, it'd take you down to the ground, you might want to consider." Lily giggled.
"You know, Sirius, you aren't half bad when you aren't trying to poison or kill me in any way."
"Aw, stop it Lily, you're embarrassing me." He turned around and grinned at her. "You wanna go down now?" Lily smiled, and nodded her head earnestly and frantically. Sirius grinned. "Hold on tight - !"
The engine was revved, and Lily rolled her eyes to it at first - she stopped once Sirius had directed the motorcycle straight into the air. He looped it around backwards, then upside down, and went spiraling at a ninety degree angle to the ground. Lily was in tears. Her entire body was wrapped around Sirius. Sirius, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying Lily's company, and was laughing so hard that he was in tears as well.
Lily was screaming as loud as her lungs would permit. Her fingernails were boring into the skin of Sirius' chest, when suddenly, it all stopped.
The beautiful green eyes of Lily Evans were peeled open again, and her shrill screaming stopped abruptly. All eyes were on Lily, and almost everyone - including innocent little Anne - seemed to be suppressing laughter.
Anne was the first to speak. "Lily, maybe you should just leave Remus to me after all. I mean, first you go kissing James, now trying to get to Sirius -"
Lily became aware at that moment that her legs were completely wrapped around Sirius. But hearing James' name --
Lily unlatched her legs, smoothed her wild red hair down, and recovered her fingernails from Sirius' shirt, leaving tiny holes in the cotton. She jumped off of the motorcycle, dizzy and uncoordinated, and paraded over to James in something that she had intended to be a beeline, but had ended up more as a rendezvous with every wizard currently outside, until she finally reached James.
She shook her finger cautiously at him. Then, Lily gave him the absolute most venomous stare she could muster in such a state. It might actually have worked, too, but as she couldn't maintain her own balance, she had to support herself upon his shoulder. "James - Potter - I - hate - you - and - I - will - kill - you - !" She threw something of a punch at him. Normally, such a thing would have broken his nose, but it didn't even come close to bloodying it.
James shook his head. "Lily, I don't think it will take much to knock you over..."
Like a drunken, drug-abused twelve and a half year old, she screamed out, "Oh yeah? Just - try me."
James shrugged his shoulders. "This will hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me..." He took his forefinger and flicked her dead center in the nose. She didn't even flinch. She just fell backwards and came to the ground with a sharp thud.
Remus looked uneasily down at her. "D'you think she'll be okay?"
Sirius examined her carefully, prodding her in unusual places. "She'll be fine."
"Did you really have to poke her?" questioned Remus imploringly.
"Eh... no. But c'mon, Moony, she's hot." He grinned cheekily at Remus, who returned the grin, but then sent him spiraling to the ground with a kick in the face. "Ouch."
Anne leaned over and drew a face at Sirius. "Eh, you think he'll be all right?"
Peter, Remus and James all looked at her oddly, then answered simultaneously, "Don't care." Anne rolled her eyes.
"I'm going in for band-aides. Where's Lily's first aide kit Remus?"
"Third cabinet from the right, top drawer, Anne."
"Oh, thanks. See you tonight."
"Lily, are you sure you're walking straight?"
"Positive. I haven't run into a statue for the last five minutes, right? Ouch!" She rubbed her head furiously after running into a large and rather noticeable stone fountain.
Anne shook her head. "I think that maybe you should just let me carry you..."
Lily shook her head. "Come on, that one didn't count, it was right in the middle of the room, and it's taking up a lot of space..."
Rolling her eyes, Anne continued walking upstairs in her satin nightgown. "You need some sort of serious therapy, Lily."
"Feh. You say that, but whose the one with the real problems? I believe that I currently hold more positions in my public relationships than you do." Lily beamed. Then she walked into a bust. Anne just shrugged and kept walking.
"You can keep your damn relationships, and
I think I'll hold on to my sanity."
"Hey Anne. Where's Lily?"
Anne fluffed one of the pillows upon the full sized bed. "She keeps walking into statues and such, she doesn't really have her coordination back."
Sirius crawled over James in their bed and responded, "If all she's doing is walking into statues, she's gained herself some coordination."
Anne pulled a face at the four boys as they began cracking up. "You shouldn't be so hard on Lily. Especially you, Remus."
Remus nudged Peter out of the way and sat up atop his pile of pillows. "I'm the only civil one to her, and you all know it."
"You talk like it's such an easy task that we all choose not to participate in," commented James. "In all honesty, she doesn't go around breaking your jaw."
Peter kicked Remus and sat up himself. "Sorry, Moony, James has got a point. She obviously favors you. She's put James in the hospital wing twice."
Remus poked his tongue out. "Look, all of you, I just happen to be a little nicer than you all. James, you are constantly teasing her. Peter, you didn't like her from the start. And Sirius... well... you just stand for yourself." Sirius was beaming as though he'd just been titled Commander of the Earth as we know it. He was slightly disturbing at times.
"Remus, I am nice to her." James was near standing at that point. "But she isn't the sentimental type, and she doesn't want to take that crap from me." He grinned at Remus. "She only wants it if she's giving back a little in return."
Anne batted her eyelashes. "Aw, Jamsie, but you love ickle Lily. Doesn't that make up for it all?"
James went beet red. "I do not."
Peter nodded. "Uh-huh. Which explains why you tried to kiss her in the kitchens."
"She just looked especially good in that dress, I couldn't help myself!" He paused for a moment. "How did you know that it was in the kitchens?"
Peter grinned maliciously. "You'd be surprised what those house elves told me when I went to go for a snack at around two fifteen that night. They told me how you'd cornered her and pinned her to the wall, but she still made fool of you." Peter was trying hard to hold in tears of laughter.
James turned his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. "Look, even if I did like her - which I don't, Remus," he added as Remus began to reach for his wand. "She has no interest whatsoever in myself, and I have none in her. All right? Can you all stop making such a big deal out of this? It's just Lily, the same mad, hell raising tomboy she's always been."
Lily chose that moment to walk in through the doors, wearing what looked like Remus's mother's lingerie, and holding a half drunken, and extremely large bottle of brandy. "Remus, darling, look what I found in your cellar!" She let out a rich burp. "Hey, y'know, I didn't even know you had a cellar!" She gave a drunken wave to Remus, as well as a grin, and something of a topple that would have destined her to the ground, had Anne not rushed over and caught her. Lily gave a surprised look as she hoisted her upright. "Hi Anne, did you see the cellar too?"
Anne gaped for a moment, then nearly fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. "She's completely drunk! Underage drinking!" She jumped up, biting her lip, looking terrified.
Peter prodded Remus, who was simply staring at Lily, open mouthed, in some sort of extreme terror. "Um... Remus..." Peter started. "Does your mum go around in pajamas like that?"
Anne shoved her fist in her mouth, and tried to stop giggling, then walked back over to her bed, leading Lily to it, as she rocked back and forth, occasionally falling over. Anne shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows as she tucked Lily into her bed. Then snorting slightly, as soon as Lily began her usual snores, Anne began giggling again, and seated herself on the edge of the bed, facing the other four.
"Remus, maybe you should lock your cellar. If Lily drinks any more, she's gonna kill herself."
Remus sent a questioning glance towards Anne. "Lily's already been drinking too much... we don't own a wine cellar. She brought that thing to her through magic. Or... Sirius?"
Sirius turned around, holding another full bottle of wine. "Oh, this? It's nothing... it's... er... a hobby!" He let it crash to the floor, grinning madly.
Anne gasped, looking at Sirius with twisted disgust, nodded her head, then looked over at Lily with pity. "Poor thing..." Then she crawled under the sheets. "G'Night, the four of you, I'm off to sleep before my mind is too sorely corrupted... sweet dreams..."
* * * * *
Lily awoke early that morning, the sunlight splashing across her sweaty red face. She reached her arms instinctively up to pull up the flannel sleeves of her pajamas, but met only bare skin. Her eyes open wide, she wondered for a brief moment whether or not she was wearing anything at all. Then she looked down, and the truth hit her harder than a load of bricks.
Gasping for air, she quietly decided that she would rather have been naked. She began to inhale and exhale slowly, trying to think rationally. But with a semi transparent silk nightie lined with frills hovering just below her limit for robe cuts, it was hard to think at all.
"What the hell happened to me?" she asked aloud, her eyes stinging. Looking down, she noticed the large bottle of alcohol by her bedside.
"I can't believe it... I was drunk... that ride on the motorbike... that disoriented me... I must have gone and found this... and then... I found this..." She looked down at her frilly, skimpy night wear. Wrapping the sheets from hers and Anne's bed around herself to hide her body. Then preparing to scream louder than she'd ever screamed in her life, she raised her voice and shouted out, "JAMES POTTER, YOU'RE DEAD!"
Pulling the sheets away from her bed, she jumped over the bed which Sirius and James were occupying, and landed atop James's head. "You moron, you freak of nature! Get your lazy butt out of bed, then I'll rip you limb from limb!"
The dark brown eyes of James tore open, and a look of terror was evident within them. "Lily, what the hell? Get off of me and put some clothes on!"
Sirius was the first of the others to wake up, mainly because the weight of the person next to him on the bed had nearly doubled. He grinned when he saw Lily in with only sheets surrounding her jumping on top of James. "James, might I ask why Lily is in bed with you?"
Lily snarled. "Sirius, that's very funny, but I really don't have time to deal with you right now, get back to me later." She turned back to James and wrapped her hands around his neck and began strangling him. "You - are - so - dead - look - at - what - you - did - to - me!"
By this time, the other three had awoken. "Well, actually," started Peter, "We all saw what James did to you. Sirius took a picture. See? I'm sleeping with mine." Lily turned to glare at Sirius.
Sirius grinned. "Guilty." He took out a crinkled photo from under his pillow and handed it to Lily. It was most definitely her... except that she was dancing in the picture, and at times, the scant amount of cloth would fly high into the air.
"Please, please tell me that I didn't flash anyone..."
"This time, Lily, you're the guilty one."
Lily felt like crying. She got over that emotion rather quickly, though. She stood on her feet and starting bouncing atop James. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" ("That's a bit much, isn't it?" asked Sirius.)
James made a quick movement and sent Lily toppling headfirst into the floor. "What did I do?!" he roared. "Sirius took you into the air, and then you got yourself drunk! And while you're blaming random people, blame poor Moony here for letting his mother were sleazy clothing around the house."
Remus was extremely pink. He cleared his throat loudly and tried to set his face back to it's normal hue. "I do wish people would stop saying that. It's not my fault. My poor, poor parents, they get no respect from the people that I hold most dear in my life."
Sirius let out a pretend sniffle. "Aw, that's beautiful Remus, do you hold me dear in your life?" He gave Remus a false smile. Remus threw a clock at him from the bedside.
Anne shook her head, and went to go help Lily up. "I can't see how Lily could last with you lot for two weeks, much less two years, she really doesn't get enough credit. The poor, abused child..."
Remus gave a smile dripping with lack of enthusiasm. "How can she be abused when she's got me?"
She rolled her eyes. "My mistake. She's been abused and corrupted. I pity her. I really pity her." She grabbed Lily under her arms and dragged her upright. "How can you possibly stand them?"
Lily glanced towards James and glared. "You know, Anne, I haven't the slightest idea how I put up with them."
James gave a sarcastic smile. "Yeah, we're so terrible, we go around landing people in the hospital wing and calling them terrible names, setting hexes on them, and then breaking their jaws, but poor Lily and her balls are far too kind to commit such a crime."
Drawing her wand, Lily thrust herself at James and cursed him, putting an instant effect of jelly legs upon him. "You, shut up, all right?"
Trying to stand up but miserably failing, James grabbed her wand and snapped it in half, anger like such he had never felt before coursing through his body. "There. You deserved it, Evans. You deserved it all."
Lily simply looked dumb struck. "No... you didn't... you didn't just..." She looked over at James, first with indescribable fury, then pain, and then with an emotion none of them had ever seen across Lily's unbroken face. She burst out with a ear splitting scream, tears running down her face, then she raced from the room. "I'm sorry, Remus, I'm going back home, Sirius, I'm borrowing your motorbike."
James just pulled a face at her. Remus looked
genuinely concerned and threw another object at James. Sirius looked terrified.
"Lily - hold on! You're not taking my motorcycle without me!"
"Lily, what are you doing?" Sirius was looking at Lily as though she were absolutely insane. He straddled his motorcycle and looked up at her. "I'm not letting you go back."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her eyes were swollen and bloodshot. "Look, Sirius, I just want to go, please help me, I don't know how to operate this thing."
"Eh... normally I'm not civil enough to allow anyone to be helped by... me.... but I don't know if I've ever seen you cry. And, personally, I don't really want to have my jaw broken, thanks." He smiled, shrugging off Lily's puffy eyed glare. "Hop on."
Turning towards Remus's house, shaking her finger at it with evil intentions in her head, she nodded. "You know I would've too."
"My point exactly. Now, come on, I haven't got all day." He extended a hand, which Lily promptly refused, and for good reasons. Lily threw her right leg across the vehicle, and grabbed a hold of Sirius's jacket.
"Now, take me home you pig."
Sirius grinned. "That's sweet of you to think
of me." He turned the gears, pulled the brakes, and the two of them were
off into the sky, Lily's cries mingled with her screams.
"You sure you don't want to come back? We'll welcome you back... well, you may not be welcome, but I'll bet if you pay them they'll let you rent a room."
Lily smiled, and stepped off of the flying motorbike. "Thank you for taking me this far, Sirius. Tell Remus g'bye for me, okay?" She gave his motorbike a pat. "I thought you'd dump me off half way through, to be perfectly honest." Sirius gave her a cheeky grin. Lily returned it. Then she bent over and gave him a small kiss. Then she darted to her door. "Thanks again, Black." She opened the door and disappeared inside.
Still extremely shocked, Sirius directed a jaunty wave at the house, then pulled the brakes forward, sending him flying backwards into a tree. "So, tomorrow at three, then?"
* * * * *
"I've told you multiple times, just go away..." She looked pitifully outside at the tawny owl hovering above her windowsill. Heaving a sigh, she unlatched the window and let the owl in. "I'm only doing this because I feel sorry for you."
Lily bent down and untied the letter from the owl's leg. "Really, you think that you'd learn, I'm not responding. You had better not be coming here for the food." She grinned, then pulled out a key from her pocket, unlocking her own owl's cage, and refilling it's bowl with owl treats. "Go ahead, you're free to help yourself."
The owl hooted contentedly, then dove into the owl treats.
Lily giggled. "Maybe I was right about that last part." She reached over and grabbed the letter. Lazily, she read it as she unfurled it.
Dearest Lily
You don't seem to be responding to my letters. Which is actually quite rude, as you're wasting much of my parchment. I know that you're reading this.... Just respond to me, damn it! I'm sorry for snapping that precious wand of yours... get over it, all right? You're being more headstrong than usual, and that's saying quite a bit. Give it up.
James
PS - Sirius keeps going on about how you kissed him. That's not fair, Evans.
Lily poked her tongue out, though she knew James could not see it. She turned her head to face James's owl, who was perched atop Mercedes' cage, his leg outstretched in anticipation.
Shaking her head, she stalked over to the owl and put its leg down, aside its other. "Look, you, maybe you really don't learn. I'm not writing to that self absorbed loser. Ever. Again."
The owl gave a disapproving stare, then shook its head. Lily scooped it up in her arms, then sat back down. "What? I hate his filthy guts, why should I write back?" The owl hooted softly and turned its back to her.
Lily grew infuriated. "Listen, it's not my fault, its his! He's the one to blame, don't point your finger at me!" Her eyes widened and her face grew red as she realized that owls did not have fingers, and that she had been talking to an owl for the past five minutes. Angry with herself, she grabbed the owl and chucked it out of her window.
"Be gone, you stupid owl, don't bring me any more of Potter's letters!" She shook her finger, then walked back over to her desk and grabbed the letter. Then. clutching it tightly to her chest, she walked timidly over to her fireplace, where she dropped the parchment and let it burn, where it's ashes joined those of more than twenty other letters, all ending with the same five letter signature.