~ Please, stop loving me ~

~ Please, stop loving me ~

by Ola

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Chapter 2-

Soft darkness. Then a piercing light stabbed his closed eyelids as someone opened the drapes of his four-poster bed.

"Sirius," growled the boy lying on the bed, mumbling something that was probably very good Sirius didn't hear.

"And a very good morning to you too Prongs," said Sirius, laughter in his voice. "Come on, I'm hungry. Breakfast started fifteen minutes ago."

Prongs, as James Potter was called by his friends, sighed, and slowly rolled himself out of bed. Sirius was his best friend, and they knew each other since as far back as they could remember, but sometimes, Sirius was exasperating, acting like a little kid on Christmas morning. And when he go something into that weird mind of his, there was no way of dislodging it. So as James plunged his head into the wooden chest at the foot of his bed to find something presentable to wear, Sirius grabbed the first thing that his hands fell on: a pair of old blue jeans, a brownish shirt that has seen better days, and a rumpled Hogwarts robe that looked as if it had been slept in. and it probably had been, not so long ago. Then he fished a pair of unmatched socks from under his bed, but at least, those were clean, and stomped his feet to lodge them comfortably into his big combat boots. The fact that he was rapidly nearing the 6 feet mark, that his hands and feet were disproportionally large compared to the rest of his already long body, and that despite the large amount of food he ingested every day he was thin didn't help his appearance. And to top it off, his head was covered by a mop of black, unruly hair that should have seen a pair of scissors a few months ago. That was Sirius, and it took him less than a minute to get ready. Meanwhile, James was putting on a pair of sweat pants and a clean new t-shirt, under his black Hogwarts robe. He was a head smaller than Sirius, and his hair was even blacker, if possible, and as messy, but cut shorter. And as much as he liked dressing comfortably, he only did so because he could hide it all under his robe. As they were about to leave, James glanced out the window and near the edge of the forest saw a small figure running. He frowned for a moment, and then recognized Lily as the wind picked up her red hair.

"Carrot is running again," said Sirius, following James's gaze.

Sirius is a hopeless case, thought James, but he grinned all the same.

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Down in the dining hall, James and Sirius sat down on the smooth wooden bench of the Griffindor table, one on each side of Remus, a medium size boy with short brown hair and eyes to match. As soon as Sirius's posterior touched the bench, he began cramming food into his wide-open mouth. Scrambled eggs, muffins, sausages, French toasts, grapes, oranges…nothing escaped him once he laid eyes on it, but his excuse was that "he was a growing boy." Meanwhile, James and Remus were spreading butter and jelly on their toasts, and talking about their next little escapade. James wanted to trek through the Forbidden Forest while Remus preferred to look for new secret passages in the castle.

"What do you think padfoot?" they finally asked.

"Mmpmnf…" Sirius's mouth was still packed with food.

"What?"

"I said she's beautiful," he managed after gulping down his last mouthful.

"What?!" asked James and Remus, bemused by his answer.

"Lily," he said, nodding his head toward the girl.

"Oh," said the other two boys, watching Lily as she passed through the Great Hall, head held high, back straight, and mouth tightened in a determined line.

"Except for the mood she's in, she would be a perfect girlfriend," said Sirius, always thinking about girls. Well, at least he did when he wasn't thinking about food.

"Has she always been this way?" asked James, trying to remember his first year.

"No," said Sirius flatly, remembering the time she had dropped a frog down his robe, and he had screamed like a girl. Very embarrassing.

James laughed as he too remembered that day. He had practically died from laughter, his belly hurting, as he had rolled on the floor.

Remus, however, remained silent and thoughtful. Three years ago, he had been one of Lily's best friends. They used to go up onto the roof at night and stargaze, talking about anything that crossed their minds. Then, one day, she hadn't come, and had altogether stopped talking to him, except for some hi's and hello's. He had been very sad, wondering what he had done wrong. Then, he thought that she had discovered his secret, and he had spent a few very restless days, until finally, he learned from Lea what had happened. He felt guilty that he had been relieved, and he tried to talk to Lily about her loss to make her feel better, but she constantly kept eluding him, a haunted look in her eyes, and he didn't want to pressure her. Now, he regretted it, as she had all the signs of depression, but it was too late. She was too far-gone for him to do her any good, and he sometimes laid awake at night, wondering what he could do to help, and berating himself for not doing anything sooner. Today, James's question had opened Remus's old wound, and he wondered how Lily was feeling. He strongly believed that she wasn't any better. Then, Sirius playfully clapped him on the back, and it was a wonder he didn't fall into his plate. But as he noticed the world around him again, he momentarily forgot Lily.

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A/N: 6 reviews in 7 hours! Youpi! That's the best response that I ever got! It makes me want to write more, so here it is, before I have to go to school, and don't have time to write more. Lily will be back in the next chapter, with a flashback of her mother. Will probably be up in a few days. J For now, enjoy the rest of your vacations (I'm sorry for all of you who are already in school) and review!

~Ola