Disclaimer: In Chapter Five, only Alaina and Jonathan are my creation,
everyone and everything else belongs to JK Rowling!!!
Note: I thank my friends once again for the reviews. you all are so kind!!!!!! This story went through a LOT of changes!!!! I absolutely hated my original chapter 5 and the turn of major events after that. so I changed most of the story around from chapter 5 and on. Hopefully, this'll be better than the original version, but only you guys can determine that, so please review when you're done reading this!!! Thanx. oh and to my SJS friends, you know where I get most of these names from, right??? Alaina, Jonathan, Eilis (she's coming in a later chapter). hopefully you guys get the idea. ( I also changed the title of this story a bit. hey, if anyone wants me to e-mail them whenever my stories get updated, just let me know!
Chapter 5
A week later, Lily met with her best friend forever Alaina at the park, who had just recently returned from Beauxbatons with her brother Jonathan. The two girls were talking animatedly about what was going on at their respective schools. Lily was talking about the antics of the Marauders. "At least they're not pranking in our House anymore. They've started pranking students in a house called Slytherin. Some of those pranks you have got to see with your own eyes, they're just so unbelievable," she said full of awe, thinking about the past year. Alaina's soft brown eyes shone with excitement. "Lily, I can't believe I forgot to tell you this: mum and dad are finally letting Jonathan and I transfer to Hogwarts! I've wanted to go there for such a long time; I hear great things about that place." "Oh, do you want to see some pictures of classmates in our year then? Best to get to know and recognize them now!" "Lily, tell me about the Marauders first. I'm hoping you have pictures of them."
Lily shook her head in amusement. "Alaina, you meet them whenever we're getting things together in Diagon Alley. you don't remember them?" Alaina thought carefully about her visits to Diagon Alley as they left the park and made way to Lily's home. "Oh, maybe I do remember them. Didn't they launch a surprise attack on you two years ago as soon as we entered the Alley? Then you ended up chasing them all over the place." Lily groaned. 'Yes, that would be them, I don't think there will be any wizards as mischievous as they are,' she told Alaina as they entered the house and headed for her bedroom. Alaina took a peek through Petunia's open door, and then she caught up with Lily. "I think your sister has a new boyfriend."
Lily looked alarmed. "It's not Tyler? Darn, he was my favorite of her past 5 boyfriends." Lily opened her closet and pulled out a nearly bursting picture album. "I have to keep this album away from muggles; thus it's hidden in the closet," she explained to a baffled Alaina. They sat down on the carpet and Alaina eagerly opened the album. 'Year One' was written across the page several times in different types of handwriting that she knew Lily used. "I've looked at this before, I think."
She went forward about 40 pages to the point where 'Year Four' was written. The first picture consisted of a number of girls, Lily included, waving happily from their dormitory beds. Lily pointed out each of the girls. "The girl there is Camille, she's the only one with wavy hair. Next to me is Ashley, she moved to England from Jamaica. across from us is Aruba, and behind her is Jillian. Jillian's my closet friend of all of them. But don't worry, you're the best friend I could ever ask for."
Alaina beamed, her quiet and sweet nature shining. "Of course. We promised to be best friends forever." Lily nodded. "And a promise is a promise." For the next half hour, Lily and Alaina sifted through the Fourth Year pictures, Lily explaining the hidden story behind each picture. By the time that they had finished looking through it, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Lily called. To both girls' surprise, Jonathan, Alaina's brother, came in. He was a year older than the girls, thus would be starting his seventh year at wizarding school. Lily slid her album under the bed quickly and stood up.
"Jonathan, hi, what are you doing here? Jonathan's hazel eyes drifted from Lily to Alaina. "Mum and dad are going to be home soon, so I've come to take Alaina home. I figured the two of you would be here, by the way. And Lily, you have a visitor." "Jonathan, I know. you and Alaina," she pointed out. Jonathan shook his head. "I met him on the way here and said he was going to your house; so we both walked here. He's downstairs, by the way. Come on Alaina, we should go now." 'Can't she stay a little longer? Please? We're not done talking yet." Jonathan looked at his watch. "Okay, ten more minutes." He went out and closed the door.
Alaina pouted when Jonathan left. "I'm only a year younger than him, why does he have to treat me like I'm a baby?" Lily's smile faded. "At least you have less than a year left of having to deal with him everyday." Alaina looked up and grinned. 'You're right. So do you have something to tell me?" Lily nodded. 'Well. I kind of have a boyfriend," she said timidly. "Why is it that you don't seem to be happy about that?" "Alaina, Alex is my mum's best friend's son. our parents are soo determined to see us get married. but what if I end up falling in love with somebody else?"
Lily looked distressed. Alaina thought of something to say. "Just let time run its course. then we can look into your future when Divination comes around again." Lily's eyes narrowed. She did well in the class but Professor Trelawney was, well, rather eccentric. Alaina laughed at Lily's face. "Well. I'd better go now." Alaina stood up and Lily led the way back downstairs. However, Lily had a feeling she knew who was downstairs and she was in too good of a mood to see James. By the time they got downstairs, Lily confirmed her thoughts.
Alaina walked up to the two. "I'm ready to go," she declared while Lily sneaked out of the back door to get away from James. James locked the door after Alaina and Jonathan left. Then he went out to the backyard in search of Lily. He heard her going out the back door. Lily quickly scrambled into her room through her window. She LOVED climbing up brick walls. Lily examined her knees after she closed her door and window and locked them. The left knee was fine but a big bruise was starting to form on the right. Lily hobbled slightly to her bed and lay down upon it to take a nap.
She quickly fell asleep, but rather lightly, because she opened her eyes when she found out that James had found her. James grinned as he put a hairpin neatly into his pants pocket. "Hello, Lily, have you been sleeping well?" "Until you came." "Well, I finished the homework, no thanks to you. you never owled me like you said you would." Lily was silent. She knew she had forgotten something. "James, my gosh, I'm so sorry," she said quietly. 'That's fine. It's done and over with." Lily sat up on the bed and James took a spot beside her. "So, how'd you find out where I live?" " I asked Jillian. She was a bit on the eager side when I was owling her." "Really?" "Yeah, I was starting to think she had a crush on me." "She doesn't."
Then Lily thought, of course not, Jillian's wildly in love with him. James didn't seem upset when she made her last reply. "James, anything else you have to say?" "No, nothing I can think of. But it's so boring at home." " It gets boring here too but I still have friends here in the neighborhood." "Muggles?" "I haven't seen them since I left for first year at Hogwarts, but Jillian lives nearby and Alaina lives on the other side of town. Alaina's going to Hogwarts in September. She's transferred from Beauxbatons. I really hope she'll be in Gryffindor." "You think so? I've always seen her as a Hufflepuff. Jonathan's a Gryffindor, no doubt in that."
Petunia then nosily stuck her head through the door. "Lily, I'm going out for a few hours." Then she noticed James and glared at Lily. "If mum and dad see him here, you know what's going to happen." Then Petunia left. Once they heard the front door close, they resumed talking. "Aren't you supposed to be at your summer home?" James shook his head. 'There was a change in plans. I don't like it anyway. It's too isolated from civilization." Lily snorted when he said that. James looked offended. "It's true! It's so muggle and my home is a full-out wizarding home." Lily found that rather amusing, but kept that to herself. Then with realization, she nervously ran her hands through her hair. "Petunia's right, I'll get into trouble if mum and dad see you in here." "But they won't be home for a while, right?"
'You're right; they won't be home for about 3 hours. Then mum's forcing me to go to Alex's house. I've been to his house so much and spent so much time with him in the past week that I'm getting sick of it all. you don't need to listen to me, I'm just rambling on and on until I feel like I've said enough." James cut her short. " I'm up to listening. but hey, can we talk somewhere else?" "Jillian's house?" "No, don't feel like seeing her." Lily cringed. If Jillian had heard that, she would have been heartbroken on the spot. "Then we can just walk around the neighborhood. We'll stay away from Jillian if that's going to keep you content." "Sounds good."
Five minutes later, Lily locked the front door and they set out. "Why else have you come here besides to tell me about you finished your homework and to talk mindlessly as I am now?" James shrugged. 'Why don't you like Jillian? She is one of my friends." "I've just never really liked her, that's all, really. I can tolerate her, don't get me wrong, but she's not the type I'd hang out with." James spotted the park where Lily and Alaina had been in earlier that day. 'Hey, let's go here, there seems to be lot of shade." "James, you've been on the Quidditch team for four years, and have faced all sorts of weather conditions. You can't handle a strong sun?"
Lily had a confused look on her face. "Of course I can handle it," he said answering back, "but I don't have to deal with bad weather all the time." "Are you here to play a prank on me?" This was her biggest fear since she saw James the first time that day. James made a face. "Does it look like I have Dungbombs or anything of the sort?" He spread his legs shoulder width and raised his arms in the air. Lily ashamedly shook her head after surveying him. "Sorry." James reverted to a relaxed position. "Don't be. I'm not the best person to trust when I'm within Hogwarts walls."
They then walked into the park side by side. Lily stopped five minutes later. "James. Jillian's here in the park. Do you dare to continue on? She might see you." Jillian was indeed close by, eating a snack on a patch of grass a few feet ahead. She hadn't noticed James and Lily yet. 'I ma y be a Gryffindor, but I'm staying away from her all summer. I'm outta here," he said hastily. He started running back to where they entered. Lily went after him as fast as she could, but by the time she reached the entrance, she was distressed to realize that James was completely out of sight.
Note: I thank my friends once again for the reviews. you all are so kind!!!!!! This story went through a LOT of changes!!!! I absolutely hated my original chapter 5 and the turn of major events after that. so I changed most of the story around from chapter 5 and on. Hopefully, this'll be better than the original version, but only you guys can determine that, so please review when you're done reading this!!! Thanx. oh and to my SJS friends, you know where I get most of these names from, right??? Alaina, Jonathan, Eilis (she's coming in a later chapter). hopefully you guys get the idea. ( I also changed the title of this story a bit. hey, if anyone wants me to e-mail them whenever my stories get updated, just let me know!
Chapter 5
A week later, Lily met with her best friend forever Alaina at the park, who had just recently returned from Beauxbatons with her brother Jonathan. The two girls were talking animatedly about what was going on at their respective schools. Lily was talking about the antics of the Marauders. "At least they're not pranking in our House anymore. They've started pranking students in a house called Slytherin. Some of those pranks you have got to see with your own eyes, they're just so unbelievable," she said full of awe, thinking about the past year. Alaina's soft brown eyes shone with excitement. "Lily, I can't believe I forgot to tell you this: mum and dad are finally letting Jonathan and I transfer to Hogwarts! I've wanted to go there for such a long time; I hear great things about that place." "Oh, do you want to see some pictures of classmates in our year then? Best to get to know and recognize them now!" "Lily, tell me about the Marauders first. I'm hoping you have pictures of them."
Lily shook her head in amusement. "Alaina, you meet them whenever we're getting things together in Diagon Alley. you don't remember them?" Alaina thought carefully about her visits to Diagon Alley as they left the park and made way to Lily's home. "Oh, maybe I do remember them. Didn't they launch a surprise attack on you two years ago as soon as we entered the Alley? Then you ended up chasing them all over the place." Lily groaned. 'Yes, that would be them, I don't think there will be any wizards as mischievous as they are,' she told Alaina as they entered the house and headed for her bedroom. Alaina took a peek through Petunia's open door, and then she caught up with Lily. "I think your sister has a new boyfriend."
Lily looked alarmed. "It's not Tyler? Darn, he was my favorite of her past 5 boyfriends." Lily opened her closet and pulled out a nearly bursting picture album. "I have to keep this album away from muggles; thus it's hidden in the closet," she explained to a baffled Alaina. They sat down on the carpet and Alaina eagerly opened the album. 'Year One' was written across the page several times in different types of handwriting that she knew Lily used. "I've looked at this before, I think."
She went forward about 40 pages to the point where 'Year Four' was written. The first picture consisted of a number of girls, Lily included, waving happily from their dormitory beds. Lily pointed out each of the girls. "The girl there is Camille, she's the only one with wavy hair. Next to me is Ashley, she moved to England from Jamaica. across from us is Aruba, and behind her is Jillian. Jillian's my closet friend of all of them. But don't worry, you're the best friend I could ever ask for."
Alaina beamed, her quiet and sweet nature shining. "Of course. We promised to be best friends forever." Lily nodded. "And a promise is a promise." For the next half hour, Lily and Alaina sifted through the Fourth Year pictures, Lily explaining the hidden story behind each picture. By the time that they had finished looking through it, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Lily called. To both girls' surprise, Jonathan, Alaina's brother, came in. He was a year older than the girls, thus would be starting his seventh year at wizarding school. Lily slid her album under the bed quickly and stood up.
"Jonathan, hi, what are you doing here? Jonathan's hazel eyes drifted from Lily to Alaina. "Mum and dad are going to be home soon, so I've come to take Alaina home. I figured the two of you would be here, by the way. And Lily, you have a visitor." "Jonathan, I know. you and Alaina," she pointed out. Jonathan shook his head. "I met him on the way here and said he was going to your house; so we both walked here. He's downstairs, by the way. Come on Alaina, we should go now." 'Can't she stay a little longer? Please? We're not done talking yet." Jonathan looked at his watch. "Okay, ten more minutes." He went out and closed the door.
Alaina pouted when Jonathan left. "I'm only a year younger than him, why does he have to treat me like I'm a baby?" Lily's smile faded. "At least you have less than a year left of having to deal with him everyday." Alaina looked up and grinned. 'You're right. So do you have something to tell me?" Lily nodded. 'Well. I kind of have a boyfriend," she said timidly. "Why is it that you don't seem to be happy about that?" "Alaina, Alex is my mum's best friend's son. our parents are soo determined to see us get married. but what if I end up falling in love with somebody else?"
Lily looked distressed. Alaina thought of something to say. "Just let time run its course. then we can look into your future when Divination comes around again." Lily's eyes narrowed. She did well in the class but Professor Trelawney was, well, rather eccentric. Alaina laughed at Lily's face. "Well. I'd better go now." Alaina stood up and Lily led the way back downstairs. However, Lily had a feeling she knew who was downstairs and she was in too good of a mood to see James. By the time they got downstairs, Lily confirmed her thoughts.
Alaina walked up to the two. "I'm ready to go," she declared while Lily sneaked out of the back door to get away from James. James locked the door after Alaina and Jonathan left. Then he went out to the backyard in search of Lily. He heard her going out the back door. Lily quickly scrambled into her room through her window. She LOVED climbing up brick walls. Lily examined her knees after she closed her door and window and locked them. The left knee was fine but a big bruise was starting to form on the right. Lily hobbled slightly to her bed and lay down upon it to take a nap.
She quickly fell asleep, but rather lightly, because she opened her eyes when she found out that James had found her. James grinned as he put a hairpin neatly into his pants pocket. "Hello, Lily, have you been sleeping well?" "Until you came." "Well, I finished the homework, no thanks to you. you never owled me like you said you would." Lily was silent. She knew she had forgotten something. "James, my gosh, I'm so sorry," she said quietly. 'That's fine. It's done and over with." Lily sat up on the bed and James took a spot beside her. "So, how'd you find out where I live?" " I asked Jillian. She was a bit on the eager side when I was owling her." "Really?" "Yeah, I was starting to think she had a crush on me." "She doesn't."
Then Lily thought, of course not, Jillian's wildly in love with him. James didn't seem upset when she made her last reply. "James, anything else you have to say?" "No, nothing I can think of. But it's so boring at home." " It gets boring here too but I still have friends here in the neighborhood." "Muggles?" "I haven't seen them since I left for first year at Hogwarts, but Jillian lives nearby and Alaina lives on the other side of town. Alaina's going to Hogwarts in September. She's transferred from Beauxbatons. I really hope she'll be in Gryffindor." "You think so? I've always seen her as a Hufflepuff. Jonathan's a Gryffindor, no doubt in that."
Petunia then nosily stuck her head through the door. "Lily, I'm going out for a few hours." Then she noticed James and glared at Lily. "If mum and dad see him here, you know what's going to happen." Then Petunia left. Once they heard the front door close, they resumed talking. "Aren't you supposed to be at your summer home?" James shook his head. 'There was a change in plans. I don't like it anyway. It's too isolated from civilization." Lily snorted when he said that. James looked offended. "It's true! It's so muggle and my home is a full-out wizarding home." Lily found that rather amusing, but kept that to herself. Then with realization, she nervously ran her hands through her hair. "Petunia's right, I'll get into trouble if mum and dad see you in here." "But they won't be home for a while, right?"
'You're right; they won't be home for about 3 hours. Then mum's forcing me to go to Alex's house. I've been to his house so much and spent so much time with him in the past week that I'm getting sick of it all. you don't need to listen to me, I'm just rambling on and on until I feel like I've said enough." James cut her short. " I'm up to listening. but hey, can we talk somewhere else?" "Jillian's house?" "No, don't feel like seeing her." Lily cringed. If Jillian had heard that, she would have been heartbroken on the spot. "Then we can just walk around the neighborhood. We'll stay away from Jillian if that's going to keep you content." "Sounds good."
Five minutes later, Lily locked the front door and they set out. "Why else have you come here besides to tell me about you finished your homework and to talk mindlessly as I am now?" James shrugged. 'Why don't you like Jillian? She is one of my friends." "I've just never really liked her, that's all, really. I can tolerate her, don't get me wrong, but she's not the type I'd hang out with." James spotted the park where Lily and Alaina had been in earlier that day. 'Hey, let's go here, there seems to be lot of shade." "James, you've been on the Quidditch team for four years, and have faced all sorts of weather conditions. You can't handle a strong sun?"
Lily had a confused look on her face. "Of course I can handle it," he said answering back, "but I don't have to deal with bad weather all the time." "Are you here to play a prank on me?" This was her biggest fear since she saw James the first time that day. James made a face. "Does it look like I have Dungbombs or anything of the sort?" He spread his legs shoulder width and raised his arms in the air. Lily ashamedly shook her head after surveying him. "Sorry." James reverted to a relaxed position. "Don't be. I'm not the best person to trust when I'm within Hogwarts walls."
They then walked into the park side by side. Lily stopped five minutes later. "James. Jillian's here in the park. Do you dare to continue on? She might see you." Jillian was indeed close by, eating a snack on a patch of grass a few feet ahead. She hadn't noticed James and Lily yet. 'I ma y be a Gryffindor, but I'm staying away from her all summer. I'm outta here," he said hastily. He started running back to where they entered. Lily went after him as fast as she could, but by the time she reached the entrance, she was distressed to realize that James was completely out of sight.