A/N: YAY! Here's chapter 3!
Disclaimer: I own what I own...YAY!
Chapter Three:
The Dirt
"Oh, this dress would look perfect on you, Lil!" Bella said, holding up a intricately designed Chinese-style dress.
"No. It looks perfect on you, Belle."
"I know! But, I already have five! I could never choose!"
"Well, I think I'll take this one." Lily held up an emerald green dress, not too fancy, but it would look perfect on Lily, whose green eyes were the exact tone of the dress. "Now hurry up and chose so we can go!"
"Oh, but I don't wanna! You're spoiling all the fun of shopping, Lil!"
"There's fun in shopping?"
"Yes, there is, so stop spoiling it!"
"Oh, Prongsie!" Sirius called, walking into James' office
"What is it, Sirius? I'm filing this report!"
Sirius was grinning from ear-to-ear. "I have some new blackmail material on you, Prongsie, m'boy."
"Blackmail material? Oh, god, help me." James smiled at his friend, knowing that his best friend wouldn't blackmail him, despite his threats. "So, what's the dirt on me?"
"You are most definitely in love with Lily Evans."
"I am not! Plus, how is that dirt? You've been saying that for eight years."
"No, that's not the dirt. The dirt is that you talk in your sleep."
"That's your dirt? Pretty pathetic if you ask me, Padfoot."
"No, that's not the dirt either. The dirt is that you talk about Lily." Sirius laughed.
"What? I talk about her? I'm not catching your drift...your blackmail material is that I talk about Lily? Whenever I talk about her, it's always an insult to her!"
"Not in your sleep," Sirius was laughing madly now, "You..." Sirius paused to laugh a bit more, "You talk about her in your sleep!"
"Argg! Sirius! That isn't true! That's not true! Tell me that isn't true!"
"Sorry, Prongs, but it's true." Sirius laughed, "You're crazy about her! Ha!" At that, Sirius at that ran out of the room laughing.
"Ee gads, Bella! You've seen about five thousand dresses! Just pick one!" Lily said, as they walked into "Wendy's Wizarding Wardrobes".
"Oh my gosh!" Bella ignored her, "It's one of those new wardrobe-makers!" Bella rushed over to a machine that looked like one of those muggle photo-booths that you could find in shopping malls. Inside, you sat down, and within a few minutes, the dress that was perfect for you would appear on the screen. Bella hopped in, and a few minutes later, requested a dress from the lady behind the counter.
"Are you done now, Belle? I've put up with four hours of shopping, and I really don't want to put up with any more."
"Fine, fine, Lil, let's go, then. By the way, we're going to dinner with Sirius and James, and their friends...umm...I think it was Remer and Pete...wait...no...it was-"
"Remus and Peter," Lily finished, "Must we go? I'm quite sick of seeing James Potter's face."
Bella rolled her eyes, "You know very well that you're so lovesick over him that you couldn't stand not seeing him every day."
"Ha!" Lily laughed, "The day I'm lovesick over James Potter is the day apes take over the world, and James' ego shrinks to the size of a normal person's."
"Sirius! Please, please, please don't tell Lily?" James whimpered
"You know I wouldn't." Sirius grinned, "But, I might just change my mind if you don't admit your head over heals in love with her."
"Fine," James said, reluctantly, "I'm in love with Lily Evans, now tell anyone and you're beyond dead!"
"Sure, Prongsie. I tell no one. But..." Sirius paused dramatically, "You're going to tell Lily this herself."
"No! She'll hate me forever!"
"What's the difference? She already says she does."
"Yeah, but that's not the same. If I tell her, she'll never be able to look me in the face again."
"Not all girls are like Victoria, you know, James."
"This is nothing like me and Victoria. I never loved Victoria, I only thought I did. This is different."
Sirius raised his eyebrows, "Well, tell that to your conscience, because I know you, James Potter, I've known you all my life, and I know very well that you think that the second you tell Lily you love her, she'll drop you like a sack of potatoes."
"Not quite..." James said, "Well, yeah, I guess you're right, but she will, Sirius."
"Like I said, not all girls are like Victoria, now go get ready, we're going out to dinner with the Bella and Lily, Moony and Wormtail are coming too."
James' eyes widened, and Sirius rushed out of the room, before James could yell at him about not telling him before this.
"Lily!" Remus said, grinning at her, "Long time no see!" He turned to Bella, "And, Arabella Figg, is it? Nice to finally meet you, I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pettigrew."
Bella smiled, "Nice to meet you two."
Lily grinned at Remus. He had been her friend all through Hogwarts. Not that Sirius and Peter, and even James, weren't, but Remus was different. He was someone she had always been able to talk to. He wasn't her type as a boyfriend, although they had gone out once in 3rd year, but he was something more friendship-wise. "Remus!" Lily squealed, "I've missed you!"
"Hmph...you didn't greet me like that, Fireball." Sirius said, in mock-offense.
"That's because Remus isn't annoying, I had reason to miss him. You, on the other hand, I was wishing I wouldn't see ever again. Esspecially since you charmed the microphone I did my head girl graduation speech on to make burping noises. That was the most humiliating moment of my entire life!" Lily grinned; she knew very well that Sirius knew that she missed him.
"That was hilarious!" Sirius cracked up laughing, "Even Prongsie here thought it was funny, and he was giving his graduation speech on that microphone too."
"Prongs, you're not talking." Remus said
"What? Oh...yeah...it was funny..." James said in a dazed way
"Too busy staring at Lily, are you, Prongsie?" Sirius said
"Yeah...wait! No!" James said, and everyone except him and Lily broke into fits of laughter.
It had been four days since dinner with the Marauders. Lily had had the four most tiring days of her entire life. On Thursday night, her grandmother had sent a letter telling her that her grandfather was sick. She immediately apparated to her grandparents' house to find a distressed grandmother, and a very sick grandfather. Her grandfather needed taking care of and her grandmother, in a state of distress, was in no condition to do it.
So, Lily had taken care of her grandfather until he had finally died, on Sunday morning, while still writing all her articles, which were completely overloaded on her during those days. Need I say she didn't eat or sleep?
No, Lily had completely taken her grand-daughterly duties seriously. This meant staying by her grandfather's side until the day his heart stopped beating, unlike Petunia, who had sent down some flowers on his funeral date, which was the Sunday he died.
Lily finally returned home on Monday afternoon, dazed and confused from lack of food and sleep. She hadn't realized it when she found herself crying in her office that afternoon, and Bella sitting next to her, consoling her.
"Oh, Lily, I'm sorry! Why don't we go out and have something to eat?" Bella said
Lily found herself standing up, "I wonder what food tastes like..." She murmured, before dropping down onto the ground in a faint.
"When was the last time this girl ate or slept?" The doctor asked a very worried Bella
"I'm not sure. It was probably a while ago. She left for her grandparents' house four days ago, and I had dinner with her Thursday evening, but after that, knowing Lily, she might not have eaten at all."
"Ugh..." Came a noise from the bed in which Lily was sleeping in. "Where am I?" Lily opened her eyes, to see James Potter's brown eyes staring into her's, "What're you doing here, Potter?"
"I'm so happy to know you're glad to see me," James said sarcastically, grinning, "They said you were sick enough to die." James said, "And I figured if you died, you'd want to know that good old James was here with you. No, I'm joking, I was just worried, we all were, so I decided to come check on you..."
Sirius laughed from the other side of the room, "Yeah, and you stayed half the night."
"What? I was going to die? What happened?"
"You fainted," James said, "The doctor said you hadn't eaten or slept in days, and that it could've killed you. You were unconscious for hours..."
An exhausted Lily didn't speak. She leaned her head over on James' shoulder, and fell completely asleep, not hearing Sirius' teasing, or Bella's cries of relief.
The nurse placed a tray on Lily's table, as Lily woke up. "No, no, I don't need that..." Lily said
"Eat." James commanded,
"Potter? You're still here?"
"Yep, so's Bella, but she's out getting some breakfast." James was seated at the chair to her right.
"Oh. You stayed here all night?" Lily said, "Thanks."
"No big." James grinned at her, one of those grins that she loved (not that she loved anything about James Potter...), nice, and genuinely sweet.
"I think I'm fine now, I'm gonna leave." Lily said, getting up
"Oh, no you don't." James said, "Don't even think about it. You can't leave for another hour, and don't even tell me you have to get to work, because it can wait."
"Fine, then, you'll stay with me, won't you?" Lily said; any other time she would've hated to have James Potter's company, but right now he was being his nice, considerate self, and Lily loved it.
"Lily! You're awake!" Bella squealed, "Oh, thank god! I was so worried!"
"I'm fine, Belle. Absolutely fine, just a bit hungry..." Lily said, taking a sip of the soup the hospital had given her. "What day is it?"
"Tuesday," James said, "And we don't have to go to the wedding if you're not feeling well."
"No, I'm feeling fine," Lily said "I can't wait," She added, though it was partially a lie.
That afternoon, James was getting ready for the wedding.
"I still can't believe that snob didn't invite me. She invited SIRIUS, but not me!" Remus complained.
"Yeah, and not me either," Peter whimpered.
"I can understand why she didn't invite you, no offense, Wormtail, but why didn't she invite me? The life of the party?" Remus said, grinning
"Moony, my dear, I believe you're mistaken, for, it is I who is the life of the party. She did not invite you and Peter for obvious reasons. Which, namely, are that she is a bitch, not to mention that she's afraid that the infamous Marauders united would easily manage to ruin her wedding completely. But, fear not, Moony, because me and Prongsie will see to it that she pays for not inviting you and our dearest Wormy." Sirius said, cockily
"Do you think Lily'd like this tux, or would she rather the blue one?" James said
"Ooh, looking to impress Fireball tonight, are we?" Sirius asked
"Stop talking like that, Padfoot! It's beginning to scare me!" James said
"Oh, but it's ever so much fun!"
"Prongs, Lily'd like anything on you, seeing as she's madly in love with you, but doesn't want to admit it until you admit it, but do something with your hair! It's horrid!" Remus said, grinning at his Lily-obsessed friend
"It's my trademark, thank you very much. And does Lily really like me?"
"Of course she does, Prongsie, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Fireball's just too afraid to admit she loves you. She's been hurt a lot before..."
"Yeah, and when Danny died...that was bad. I'm not sure if she's fully over that yet, but she loves you all the same."
"Wait...what're you talking about?" James asked, oblivious of the knowledge of what had happened to Lily's former boyfriend.
"Danny Fredrickson. He was a muggle that Lily knew. She went out with him for about two years, I think. She said she was in love with him, and then he died in a car accident with a friend who was driving drunk..." Remus hesitated to finish
"But, that's not the worst part," Sirius cut in, "She found out that...she found out that he had been cheating on him with a muggle girl for the past six months. Right there at the funeral. She found herself talking to a girl, and then the girl identified herself as Danny's girlfriend..."
"She said she'd never trust another boy again...later, she moved that to: she'd never trust another boy as a boyfriend ever again. All the same, it hurt her deeper than it's possible to imagine." Remus finished.
"Wow..." James said, in shock, "I had no idea..."
Bella spun around, "How do I look?"
"You look fine, now can we go?" Lily said, impatiently
"Wait just a sec, don't be so impatient." Bella chided
"Wouldn't it be easier just to apparate there?" Lily asked
"You know what the doctor said, no apparating for the next week. It takes too much energy."
"Oh, but, really, Bella! I'm feeling fine!" Lily complained
"All the same, you have to listen to the doctor. Now, a taxi should be on it's way." At that moment, there was a honk from outside the apartment building,
"Ok, come on! Let's go now!" Lily pulled Bella out the door and into the taxi. "Englewood Apartment complex on Fortsmith Street, please."
The taxi drove into the apartment building, which was slightly fancy, not surprising, seeing as James' family was quite rich. The girls ran in. "Room 713, 15th floor." Bella said,
"713? Appropriate," Lily smiled
"Why so?"
"Well, seven is a lucky number, and thirteen is an unlucky number, so I guess it quite makes sense...at least the thirteen part..." Lily giggled. Once by the door, Lily rang the bell, and Sirius opened the door.
"If it isn't the lovely Lady Belle, and Lady Lily, the Fireball! Welcome, ladies, to our humble abode." Sirius said, grinning cockily, "May I take your coats?"
"Sure, Sirius," Lily laughed, "This place is a complete wreck! You have such a nice place, and you keep it a pigsty!"
"The fact that it's a pigsty is part of it's charm," James said, walking into the room. Lily had to admit, he looked horribly handsome.
"So, tell me, Potter, how are boxes charming? It looks like you started unpacking, and then decided against it, and here you are, a year later, with a house full of boxes!"
"I happen to like boxes, thank you very much," James grinned. Lily looked beautiful. He could hardly keep his eyes off her.
Lily giggled, "Whatever suits you, I suppose. But, what in heaven's name do you do when company comes?"
"You're company, are you not?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Well, this is what we do. We actually did make quite an attempt to clean up. We managed to get rid of all the living things, although I think there's still quite a few creatures living under that sofa you're sitting on..."
"Ahh! Eeew!" Lily jumped up, only to see James laughing hysterically.
"I'm joking, I'm joking." James laughed
"Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!"
"Glad to be of service, now, shall we go? We certainly don't want to be late to our dearest friend Victoria's wedding."
"Oh, of course not. Perish the thought!" Lily giggled, "Let's go!"
"Bella, Sirius, stop snogging, let's go!" James said, grinning
"We were not snogging!" Bella giggled, and ran out the door.
After the wedding service, there was a huge party. So far, Victoria and Roger were still a married couple, but who knew how many more hours that would last...
"Care to dance?" James asked Lily, "We have to look like we can actually tolerate each other, remember?"
"Ok, fine, if we must." Lily said
They danced several times. Lily found herself thinking that she loved the feeling of James' arm around her waist, with much criticism from the other side of her head. Mr. and Mrs. Roger Martins were dancing not too far from them, and Lily could've sworn she heard Victoria saying something that sounded like, "And we'll name our 2nd daughter Prune". She thought she had noticed Roger's eyes popping out.
A few minutes later, Victoria was quite upset with Roger "You don't like my name?! You don't love our children? Oh, you're so unsupportive!" She shrieked
"Well, it's not my fault if no one in their right mind would name their son Martinilino-Fredricklo! And we don't HAVE children! How can I love children that I don't HAVE?" Roger yelled
"You know what? I don't need this! It's OVER! I don't even know why I married you! You're nothing but a lousy, boring, good-for-nothing, piece of scum!"
"Yeah, well, you're an insane freak! I can't see why I wanted to spend my life with you!" He yelled
"Fine, then!" Victoria ripped off her ring, and threw it into the cake, storming off through a limo that was waiting near the front.
There was silence for a few minutes, which was broken by Sirius shouting, "CAKE!" and slicing off a piece of cake, which just happened to contain the $10000 ring, which Roger had to fight him to re-obtain. The rest followed until the cake had been completely devoured. After which, there was quite a bit of dancing, until the wedding guests, none of whom quite liked Victoria much and had arrived at the party the same way James, Sirius, Bella, and Lily had, slowly left. At around eleven, Lily and James were dancing, oblivious to the fact that they didn't need to keep pretending to be going out. Sirius' words were ringing in James' head. Not all girls are like Victoria, you know, James...
James then did the most impulsive thing he'd ever done in his entire life. He leaned forward and kissed her.
All of Lily's impulses told her to pull away, but her brain had other ideas. After a few seconds, Lily's impulses caught up with her, and she pulled away.
"Lily, I love you." James said
She stood expressionless for a second. Finally, she completely came to her senses, "I...Hate...You..." She stuttered, tears forming in her eyes, and disapparated.
A/N: tehehe...I just loveeee cliffys! Don't you? Hehe...well, as you can prolly tell, this fic is *far* from over...I'm not quite sure how many more chapters I'm gonna put in, though...it depends on how much more inspiration I get...OMG! I got 21 reviews for chapter 3!!! That's more than I've gotten EVER for a chapter! Thank you, reviewers! I wuv u guyz!
Thank-yous:
~Martini Addict: YAY! You really think it's good? Thanks!
~Darling Lily Evans: lolz...it's a-w-e-s-o-m-e, and don't worry, I spell things wrong all da time...*nodz*...anywayz, thanks! Although, awesome is a word which I consider my fic to be far from...lolz...well, I'm glad you like it!
~Dewd: tehehe...yesh, I do need to work on my geography...lolz...sorry 'bout dat...im such a moron! Anywayz, I love post Hogwarts fics too...*nodz* dat's why I'm writing this! YAY! Tehehe...anywayz, thanks for the review!
~Stickerstar-12: hmm...is Lily gonna become an auror? I haven't completely decided...I think she *might*, but maybe not...anywayz, I really don't think I have a decent plot @ all, but oh well, I'm glad you think I'm making a good attempt @ it!
~Peppermint: wonderfully wonderful is a wonderful word! YAY! Wonderfulness! Tehehe...YAY! I'm glad you liked it!
~Satans Little Princess: YAY! Cherries on top taste gooooood...lolz...well, I wrote more, didn't I? YAY! I'm really, really glad you love it!
~Sierra Sitruc: tehehe...the hostage thingy worried you? Well, you don't have to be worried, cuz she's safe! YAY! Tehehe...I was planning on torturing her, or something fun like dat (tehehe...I'm such a sadist, jeez...luckily, I have writing where I can unleash all my inner anger, or the world would be a very scary place, lolz...), but I decided against it...lolz, Thanks for the review!
~Quinn: wow...you really like it dat much? Thanks! Well, I wrote more as soon as possible, and now you're finished reading it, and you'll have to wait till I write the next chapter...hehe...thanks!
~Shits and Giggles: YAY! I know there aren't! I wuv them, and I can never find them! If you want another one, though, I'd recomment "Five Year Reunions Stink- Or Do They?" by The Bumbling Firefly, cuz I LOVE that fic...it's a really good L/J post-Hogwarts fic...*nodz* wow...it's superb? YAY! I'm glad you think so!
~Amy: tehehe...glad you like it! Thanks for the review!
~Kitkat: *sings* give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of dat kit kat bar! YAY! Tehehe...sudden urge, ignore me...lolz...thanks!
~Miki: I continued!!! YAY!
~Thistle Meg: tehehe...yesh, Lily *did* have ulterior motives...*nodz* 'cept, she didn't expect James to have ulterior motives as well...g well, thanks for the review!
~Lady Wildcat: OMG! I'm on a faves list! I feel so specialful! lolz...tehehe...oh, and, your singing can't be half as bad as mine...*nodz* tehehe, well, thanx 4 da nice review!
~Chooch: Yup...Victoria is a snob...*nodz* I can't stand the girl...they didn't exactly embarrass her @ the wedding, but she definitely embarrassed herself...*nodz*...but, unfortunately, as you'll see next chapter, this isn't the end for our dear sweet friend, Vicky (sarcasm, lol)...she has more trouble yet to cause...well, thanks!
~Balla Back: You really think journalist-Lily was a good idea? Thanks! Glad you like it!
~Jak: Does Lily actually like James yet? Hmm...well, I think I'll let you find that out later...tehehe...I'm so glad you think it's good! Thanks!
~Sara: glad you're not offended! YAY! You're gonna read The Phoenix Ring? YAY! I hope you liked it! It's very different from this one, but I really liked writing The Phoenix Ring...*nodz* it's the first actual fic I've ever written...
~libertygrl413: YAY! Thanks! It's kick-ass? Wow...I'm really glad people like dis fic! *nodz*
~Fire of Sarcasm)(Sarcasm Queen: YAY! Thanks! I really can't believe people who I think write absolutely BRILLIANT fics, actually think *my* terrible fic is good! lolz...if my fic is good, your's are...beyond perfection...*nodz* well, thanks!
~~*Crystal Lily*~: YAY! I love it when I get reviews from The Phoenix Ring reviewers! *dances* thanks!
A/N: Wow...this was just over 8 pages in size 11 Verdana...longfulness! YAY!