Lily, the Vampire Slayer
Author's Note: Lovey-dovey fluff, an awaited chapter. Fluffiness, l/j action in your words. Oh, and since ya'll be probably rushin' in to read this chapter, I just wanna say MICHAEL ROSENBAUM RULES!!! Wastin' space here but who cares? He's worth it!!!
Chapter Sixteen
Sunlight streamed into the room through a gap in the yellow curtains that was usually kept shut tight. The birds were singing, the sun was shining but Lily Evans was groaning. She felt like she had just been suffering from a major hangover only to be run down by an eighteen-wheeler carrying the weight of the entire world on its hold.
A little melodramatic, yes, but the situation did call for it. Her body ached from the startling revelation of the hour, an espial that her acute senses had informed her of.
Cursing somnolently under her breath, she wandered aimlessly out of bed, seeing as to she could no more shut out the light or the convivial aria of the avis than altogether drown herself in the sea for a week and hope to survive the ordeal.
Grabbing the glass of water which she usually kept by her nightstand, hoping to add moisture to her parchment-dry throat.
Setting her lips on the rim, she hoped to gown the entire glass and cussed even more when she found that the glass was empty.
Flopping back down onto her bed due to the utter woefulness of her situation, she yelped as she landed on something soft, furry and.alive.
She let out a surprised yelp and her eyes flew open, her nerves all wired-up. She instinctively went into a fighting stance.
The furry and black creature stared up at her adoringly from the mattress. Her tense limbs relaxed as she realized that it was a dog, not just any dog but Sirius.
"Black, whatcha doin'?"
The Animagus stared up at her innocently as she waited patiently for it to return to its human state.
It didn't.
"Alright, get outta there 'fore you mess it up anymore than it already is," she pointed at the floor. "Down, now."
He obeyed her command and followed her as she walked out of the bedroom which she shared with Constance, an early riser and to make matters worse, a happy camper, much to her disdain.
Walking into the annoyingly light pink kitchen, she headed for the sink and attempted to pour some water into the glass, yet the world was against her once again for the pipes had broken down once again.
"Damn Council, couldn't set us up with better living quarters, cheapskates. Got that real big mansion up in Britain and all those antique medieval weaponry and crap but they couldn't even squander up enough cash for their Slayers." Then on a whim, she turned towards Sirius and vented. "Ain't it the truth, boy?"
She could never understand why people liked to talk to their pets and animals in general. She could spy a number of humans walking their pets in the park in which she patrolled, she could never sympathize with their inanity. The animals wouldn't give them an answer, they weren't even helpful. She had asked Ernie about it, once, when she was about ten and he couldn't give her a factual answer. He had told her that it might have been psychologically healing and soothing to them. Where they could speak without interruption and receive loving and compassionate sounds in return.
Maybe she was crazy but she was beginning to think Ernie's theory hit the bull's eye on that particular subject.
She scratched Sirius the dog under its jaw, pleased at the feel of silken fur beneath her hand and made the same stupid noises that pet owners used when conversing with their charges. Shaking her head, she stopped, not paying attention to Sirius' pleading whines, she decided that her stomach needed more attention than the enormous dog/boy who had by now obviously gotten more than his fair share of popularity.
Wrenching the refrigerator door open with pent-up frustration and slammed it shut with much more vengeance than she expected to use after finding, or rather not locating the gallon of milk which Ernie had always kept in stock for both Slayers.
"Guess we'll have to mosey on over to Ernie's for some grub, don't we, boy?"
Leading Sirius out of the apartment, dragging him off of Constance's cat, Albert, they entered Ernie's pad and Lily had trouble keeping up with an over-eager dog who quickly entered the neat white kitchen, as if having visited before.
He stopped before the refrigerator and started chasing his tail stupidly.
"Move it, buster," she growled, rummaging through the pantry that stood beside the machine and palming a few cookies and a carton of unopened milk.
Shoving a few pastries in her mouth and stuffing one into Sirius' open jaw, she began downing the entire carton, that is until Sirius started licking her hand.
"That's disgusting!" she yelled at the impossibly grinning creature. "Do you know how much harmful microorganisms or germs are in your saliva?!"
He barked at her and started trotting off into Ernie's living room, cookie crumbs trailing in his wake.
"Get back here! Ernie's so gonna kill you!" she scolded him, but to no avail, in frustration, she despairingly yelled, "You're trailing dirt all over the carpet!"
Following the creature/wizard into the living room, she tackled him, wrestling with him on the carpeted floor.
Grabbing his mug, she berated, "Your head as hard as mine, ain't it? You being the stupid ass you are as a person."
Standing up, she brushed dust and dog hair off of her pyjamas, reprimanding the beast, "Get back into the kitchen, I'll go get the vacuum, something which you might not know of."
As if testing her patience, he sat on his haunches, tongue sticking out and tail wagging furiously, staring behind the couch almost expectantly.
"Now, what?"
Facing the dog, she raised an eyebrow at him, shook her head and made a move to leave when Sirius the dog ran in front of her, cutting her retreat short and twirled her around to face the couch and to her surprise, she noticed movement behind it.
"Who's there?" she called out, fearing the dog might have sensed something she had overlooked in the room, Ernie was usually gone by this time to check-in at the local library, his new job as head librarian had been made possible by her withdrawal from her previous school.
"Look, whoever you are, I'm armed," she warned, picking up the closest weapon she could think of.
'Yeah, armed with a lamp, that is.'
Hardly a suitable weapon against gun-toting thieves but suitable enough to prevent her from causing bodily harm that would conclude in a coma or death for her obviously mortal attackers.
About to dive behind the couch and cause injury to any and all of the party that lay behind it, she received the shock of her life when Ernie, Constance and James leaped out from behind it and yelled out, "Surprise!"
Instinctively, she threw the lamp at the closest person's head, unluckily, it was James Potter's. Fortuitously, Constance was right beside him, and from own experience, she had anticipated such an event.
Catching the lamp in one hand, she grinned as she set down the decorative object.
"You guys nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Sirius, who had changed back into his human form, yelped in her ear, "Happy Birthday, Lily!"
She covered her ear and growled.
Then, she finally digested what Sirius had just yelled at her.
"Wait, what date is it?"
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They had gone to church after they had surprised her. Ernie always took her to church every year for her birthday, it was tradition, he was very Catholic, she was baptized a handful of years ago.
Constance was Irish, therefore fit in with the local church crowd and was probably the only person in the group, other than Ernie, who could understand the priest's ramblings.
Squished in between Sirius and James on the pew, she tried to hold in giggles as James criticised the priest's teachings and Sirius' dramatic and sonorous snoring and the pair's jokes.
They halted after being shushed for the millionth time by the elderly lady before them and the young couple behind them and Ernie's disapproving glances and Constance's glares.
They had lunch at an elegant and fancy restaurant, with James pestering the waiter to no end and Sirius torturing them by constantly spilling his drink 'by accident' on and around the waiters and incidentally having his ice cream flop down onto the floor 'by itself', causing the snobby maitre'd to lose his toupee.
At this, Ernie had promptly resolved never to bring Lily's frieds anywhere.
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She grinned as they approached the humungous colorful structure looming just in plain view. After sitting in that theatre for two hours and trying to understand the gibberish that was Latin that was the medium of communication in the play.
Now, it was time for fun, not that she was any less appreciative of Ernie's attempts to make her birthday any less memorable and wonderful. Sirius and James had made sure that she remember this day with their antics.
Like all of the other activities they had done today, Ernie took her to a fair afterwards.
Skipping through the entrance with Sirius after Ernie had bought tickets, she didn't give a damn about how stupid she looked. It was her day and she could be as idiotic as she wanted.
She quickly dragged Sirius onto the first roller coaster that came in immediate view and she could almost hear Ernie's sigh of relief, knowing that he would no longer accompany her on this particularly horrendous ride.
With Constance and James close behind, she shoved Sirius into the tiny cart and let out a grin as he gulped at the sight of the coaster tracks.
"Hang on to your head, boy," she advised as the ride started.
Soon after, she had to stand beside him as he thrust his head into a garbage bin and started puking his brains out.
"You shouldn't've eaten that entire bag of chips on the way, y'know," she chided.
She handed him a paper napkin as his head emerged from the dark blue canister.
"If I had known that you would take me through that thing I wouldn't have."
"You done yet?" she asked, anxiously. "We better get on that line before it starts piling up again."
"Oh, no," he groaned as he was hauled once more, against his will onto a line which would cause another bout of nausea.
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"Lily, what do you think?"
Ernie broke through her thoughts, asking her about God-knows- what. She had been obviously not listening. She really needed to get her ears fixed and her attention span tweaked.
She had been staring off into space, more like the Love Tunnel ride, the only ride she had never experienced. She was curious, what was it about that tunnel that stimulated the fickle-like emotion which she people liked to call love.
"What did you say?"
"What did you think about the play, daft," Sirius rolled his eyes, tearing a piece of fluff off of her own cotton candy.
She scowled and laid it just beyond his reach. "Well, it was.neat?"
"You don't sound to sure."
"At least I didn't sleep through the entire thing," she countered, shooting him her evil eye.
Sirius stuck his tongue out and feigned hurt, turning up his nose and facing the opposite direction.
He spotted the Love Tunnel ride.
"Oooh!" he jokingly swooned. "Let's go on that ride!"
He pointed at it and dragged Lily, James and Constance along with him.
Ernie chuckled, shaking his head. "Children."
Lily snorted at the tacky swan vehicles and the papier-mâché cupids and hearts that studded the opening. The air was strongly perfumed, causing her to let out a series of coughs. Everything was colored a blinding shade of pinks, reds, whites and golds.
With Sirius shoving her into a yellowed-with-age swan, she could not fathom how couples were inspired to fall in love in this setting.
"Siri, I'm going ta hafta kill you for this."
"Then, you'd have to get yourself wet, and I don't think you'd care very much for that."
She turned and came face to face with. "Potter? Whatcha doin' here?"
"Sirius," he said simply.
"And he is.where?"
"Behind us, with Constance."
She stared. "You're letting your best friend put the moves on your girl?"
He shrugged as they entered the dark cave.
"This sucks," she complained, regarding the heavily scented air with as much disdain as she could muster through the haze of incense. "I think I might develop a couple of allergies after this."
"You've never been here before? I had been told that Mr. Erwin has taken you here every year for your birthday."
He was trying to make polite conversation, and not wanting to mess up the ride any more with petty squabbles, she answered him honestly, "Ernie loved to show me the highlights of the circus, y'know, especially the acrobats, told me I could do the same stuff they did, if I tried hard enough. It was supposed to motivate me to work harder, right? But like any other kid, I liked the elephants more, though I wasn't. Any normal kid, that is."
James looked at her expectantly, though she could not see his gaze, she felt it.
"Well." she was trying to choose her words carefully, not really thinking anyone would question her about this particular subject. "I've never really remembered a time wherein I actually believed in love. I just could never picture myself being swept off my feet by some knight-in-shining armor. And this whole Slayer thing only added fuel to it."
"Oh."
She could detect the sympathy in his voice. "You don't have to feel sorry for me or anything, I mean I think that I'll be the one carrying the knight off on some enchanted horse. Can't feel something that was never s'posed to be there in the first place. I really think it's a crazy notion, you know the one that says that there's only one soul for every person in this world. There are more than billions of people in this world, how do you know that that particular person is 'the one'?"
Blinding red light filtered in and centered on their vehicle.
They were surrounded by numerous mannequins that showcased the greatest couples of all time. She snorted again, thinking that it seemed very corny.
She turned and was met by his disbelieving gaze.
"What?"
"How can you not believe in love?"
She rolled on, trying to explain her principles. "I don't think that Slayers are supposed to have someone. Distractions, and all that. Kinda like that poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay: Love is not all; it is not meat nor drink Nor slumber, nor a roof against the rain; Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink And rise and sink and rise and sink again Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath Nor clean the blood nor set the fractured bone."
She was surprised when James joined her, "Yet many a man is making friends with death Even as I speak for lack of love alone."
"See, that's my point," she shrugged. "Falling in love's like killing yourself."
"But you forget the poem's second verse," he reminded.
"I'd rather not think of it."
"Well, I, on the other hand, believe in soul mates. We are born to find our other halves in this nonsensical world."
"Kinda cliché, dontcha think?"
"Someone once quoted that unrequited love due to fear is similar to committing yourself to death before your own tome."
"Quite a pretty analogy, though Slayers' deaths, like their lives, are quite different from those unlike themselves. Those beliefs are not applicable to me, I have been taught not to believe in those foolish things."
"Well," he said, slowly, gazing at her with a newfound understanding. "I reckon that's right."
"Sure is."
They were quiet for a while before she broke the silence by asking the question that ate away at the back of her head. "So, this-thing," For there was no other way to describe it. "-with Constance, is it gonna last?"
"No, I don't think it will," he confessed with an honesty that had her taken aback.
"So, all that you were just spewin' was all crap, then?" she was vehemently angry with him for seemingly using her friend.
He shook his head. "No, not at all."
"She's not the one, then?" she spat out furiously.
"I can't imagine her being the one this quickly. I barely know her."
"But you were sucking face with her last night," she answered matter-of-factly.
He grinned mischievously. "Jealous?"
"Of 'Stance?"
He nodded.
She shook her head. "No. Just don't wanna see my bud getting hurt and all. A Slayer with serious emotional issues kinda hurts the welfare of others and herself."
"I didn't actually start kissing her, she started kissing me."
"And?" she waited for him to elaborate.
"And.I don't really know why."
"Not your type?"
"Not really," he agreed.
"So," she asked, moving closer, hoping to extract some juicy details. "What is your type, then?"
"It's not as if Constance wasn't exactly a great person but we just didn't."
"Click?"
"Exactly."
"So?"
"Well," he leaned closer, whispering conspiringly. "I'm rather fond of blondes-"
"No, duh!" she smiled at him.
"Long hair, big eyes, strong women, independent minded," his face leaned closer, voice trailing and focused on her face and nothing else. "With an unbreakable spirit."
He leaned closer, his lips barely over hers.
She was shocked by her inability to resist his charms. They were both breathing heavily and she locked eyes with him, drowning in the tarns of deep brown, undeniably attracted to him.
Her skin tingled with anticipation; this would be her first kiss, and she would be sharing it with James Potter, something so special to be shared with someone who would never mean anything to her, someone she would never allow to get close to her.
His lips were almost on hers when a loud splashing sound broke the spell of the moment.
She quickly looked away, embarrassed. What had gotten into her?
She looked behind her, for lack of anything better to do and to get her mind off of James' penetrating gaze, hoping the bright red lights hid the deep crimson that tinged her chin.
She spotted Constance leaning over the bar with a guilty look on her face and she knew that Sirius had fallen off.
Grumbling, she pushed the safety bar off her and dived into the water after Sirius.
Her head emerged from the water and she grabbed Sirius by the scruff of his neck, forcing him to stand.
The water was chin-high for her and she was almost a foot shorter than Sirius.
"It was shallow, dumbass."
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A/N: I wasn't sure if I was gonna put this up, I'm not so sure about this. I just wanna thank all of my lovely reviewers who persuaded me to write a chappie such as this. I kinda made it on a whim.
Summary for the next chappie: I wonder if any of you read that Buffy book by Chris Golden, 'Night of the Living Rerun'. I'm gonna incorporate a bit of that into this story. Where Slayers receive dreams which are glimpses of their lives in the past, how they, as Slayers, had died.
That's where I'm gonna place a lot of my energy on l/j on.
THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOU GUYS WHO WANTED SOME ROMANCE. I DON'T THINK I'M REALLY GOOD AT THIS, THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T PLACE IT IN. Hope you like this.
And thank you to my reviewers and my loyal fans (Mech, you're possibly my first and #1 supporter) who weren't so much dissuaded by my lack of romance and updates. I've been kinda down lately. I just had this enormous disagreement with some people who I thought were my friends (I don't know how it all started, but you can see their childish retaliations in their flames and just to clear things up to people who had read them, I am not a lesbian, never was and never will be. I don't even read slash, being brought up by stiff Catholic parents and all.)
I just wanna thank everyone for their unending praises and support. (Don't worry, there'll be some l/j in chap. 18) So to my reviewers:
Celtic Ember-I'm tryin' to read your fics but I haven't much time and have only read stories my friends either wrote or printed out. I know, it's laziness but I've got two friends pesterin' me to write diff. Stories, so I'm doing my best! I'll read it this Nov., though. I ran outta internet time.
Milkyweed
Krissia
puddles
Red
Min Hee Ha
lalala(whoever you may be)
aurora riddle
The Fool's World
lollipozz
Vicky D
Shooting star
Akiko SkywalkerGreenleafPotter
Sierra Sitruc-Thanks for placing me on your fave list! I read a bit of your fic, He swings THAT way. It was absolutely hilarious and original!
sons
POD
nattie
moka
firebird16
ruby- I'm itchin' to have her beat Snape up, so look forward to that in the upcoming chapters. (
lilly-Yeah, she got her powers back. I couldn't imagine her as weak.
chewy- I'm glad someone finally thinks that I didn't make Lily entirely like Buffy. I agree that I made her a mixture of Faith and Buffy, Faith being my favorite character next to AtS Doyle and Spike.
Lee, aka Cami- Yay! Glad you like Sammy. I kinda re-read my past chapters and nearly died! I introduced her very badly but I'm terribly relieved that you like her. I don't usually like OCs 'cept for Tropical Fishy's Jo but I really loved Sammy. So thanks! Remy/Sammy forever!
Jess the Great- Here's a semi-love story. Chapter 18 will have them doing something more.
hpfan1750
aharrypotter1fan
Buffy Anne Summers-Here's a bit of l/j. More in chapter 18 but please read 17. It's my fave.
Remmi the Pyro
princess pixie ice
Cassie Gurl
AudrinLynneSkye
~dove~
lilygurl88
Mage Of Fire
trina-k
brittney
anita
Mickey802
Lil-lily
Fruity
The Infallible Teller
sal
Kar
applepie
Twistie
Kat
kirbee
Ethan-Thanks for putting me in your fave author's list! I checked the stat. thing. I'm just narcissistic that way. (
Chimichuji
*star*
me
Oh, yeah, btw REVIEW EVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW
Author's Note: Lovey-dovey fluff, an awaited chapter. Fluffiness, l/j action in your words. Oh, and since ya'll be probably rushin' in to read this chapter, I just wanna say MICHAEL ROSENBAUM RULES!!! Wastin' space here but who cares? He's worth it!!!
Chapter Sixteen
Sunlight streamed into the room through a gap in the yellow curtains that was usually kept shut tight. The birds were singing, the sun was shining but Lily Evans was groaning. She felt like she had just been suffering from a major hangover only to be run down by an eighteen-wheeler carrying the weight of the entire world on its hold.
A little melodramatic, yes, but the situation did call for it. Her body ached from the startling revelation of the hour, an espial that her acute senses had informed her of.
Cursing somnolently under her breath, she wandered aimlessly out of bed, seeing as to she could no more shut out the light or the convivial aria of the avis than altogether drown herself in the sea for a week and hope to survive the ordeal.
Grabbing the glass of water which she usually kept by her nightstand, hoping to add moisture to her parchment-dry throat.
Setting her lips on the rim, she hoped to gown the entire glass and cussed even more when she found that the glass was empty.
Flopping back down onto her bed due to the utter woefulness of her situation, she yelped as she landed on something soft, furry and.alive.
She let out a surprised yelp and her eyes flew open, her nerves all wired-up. She instinctively went into a fighting stance.
The furry and black creature stared up at her adoringly from the mattress. Her tense limbs relaxed as she realized that it was a dog, not just any dog but Sirius.
"Black, whatcha doin'?"
The Animagus stared up at her innocently as she waited patiently for it to return to its human state.
It didn't.
"Alright, get outta there 'fore you mess it up anymore than it already is," she pointed at the floor. "Down, now."
He obeyed her command and followed her as she walked out of the bedroom which she shared with Constance, an early riser and to make matters worse, a happy camper, much to her disdain.
Walking into the annoyingly light pink kitchen, she headed for the sink and attempted to pour some water into the glass, yet the world was against her once again for the pipes had broken down once again.
"Damn Council, couldn't set us up with better living quarters, cheapskates. Got that real big mansion up in Britain and all those antique medieval weaponry and crap but they couldn't even squander up enough cash for their Slayers." Then on a whim, she turned towards Sirius and vented. "Ain't it the truth, boy?"
She could never understand why people liked to talk to their pets and animals in general. She could spy a number of humans walking their pets in the park in which she patrolled, she could never sympathize with their inanity. The animals wouldn't give them an answer, they weren't even helpful. She had asked Ernie about it, once, when she was about ten and he couldn't give her a factual answer. He had told her that it might have been psychologically healing and soothing to them. Where they could speak without interruption and receive loving and compassionate sounds in return.
Maybe she was crazy but she was beginning to think Ernie's theory hit the bull's eye on that particular subject.
She scratched Sirius the dog under its jaw, pleased at the feel of silken fur beneath her hand and made the same stupid noises that pet owners used when conversing with their charges. Shaking her head, she stopped, not paying attention to Sirius' pleading whines, she decided that her stomach needed more attention than the enormous dog/boy who had by now obviously gotten more than his fair share of popularity.
Wrenching the refrigerator door open with pent-up frustration and slammed it shut with much more vengeance than she expected to use after finding, or rather not locating the gallon of milk which Ernie had always kept in stock for both Slayers.
"Guess we'll have to mosey on over to Ernie's for some grub, don't we, boy?"
Leading Sirius out of the apartment, dragging him off of Constance's cat, Albert, they entered Ernie's pad and Lily had trouble keeping up with an over-eager dog who quickly entered the neat white kitchen, as if having visited before.
He stopped before the refrigerator and started chasing his tail stupidly.
"Move it, buster," she growled, rummaging through the pantry that stood beside the machine and palming a few cookies and a carton of unopened milk.
Shoving a few pastries in her mouth and stuffing one into Sirius' open jaw, she began downing the entire carton, that is until Sirius started licking her hand.
"That's disgusting!" she yelled at the impossibly grinning creature. "Do you know how much harmful microorganisms or germs are in your saliva?!"
He barked at her and started trotting off into Ernie's living room, cookie crumbs trailing in his wake.
"Get back here! Ernie's so gonna kill you!" she scolded him, but to no avail, in frustration, she despairingly yelled, "You're trailing dirt all over the carpet!"
Following the creature/wizard into the living room, she tackled him, wrestling with him on the carpeted floor.
Grabbing his mug, she berated, "Your head as hard as mine, ain't it? You being the stupid ass you are as a person."
Standing up, she brushed dust and dog hair off of her pyjamas, reprimanding the beast, "Get back into the kitchen, I'll go get the vacuum, something which you might not know of."
As if testing her patience, he sat on his haunches, tongue sticking out and tail wagging furiously, staring behind the couch almost expectantly.
"Now, what?"
Facing the dog, she raised an eyebrow at him, shook her head and made a move to leave when Sirius the dog ran in front of her, cutting her retreat short and twirled her around to face the couch and to her surprise, she noticed movement behind it.
"Who's there?" she called out, fearing the dog might have sensed something she had overlooked in the room, Ernie was usually gone by this time to check-in at the local library, his new job as head librarian had been made possible by her withdrawal from her previous school.
"Look, whoever you are, I'm armed," she warned, picking up the closest weapon she could think of.
'Yeah, armed with a lamp, that is.'
Hardly a suitable weapon against gun-toting thieves but suitable enough to prevent her from causing bodily harm that would conclude in a coma or death for her obviously mortal attackers.
About to dive behind the couch and cause injury to any and all of the party that lay behind it, she received the shock of her life when Ernie, Constance and James leaped out from behind it and yelled out, "Surprise!"
Instinctively, she threw the lamp at the closest person's head, unluckily, it was James Potter's. Fortuitously, Constance was right beside him, and from own experience, she had anticipated such an event.
Catching the lamp in one hand, she grinned as she set down the decorative object.
"You guys nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Sirius, who had changed back into his human form, yelped in her ear, "Happy Birthday, Lily!"
She covered her ear and growled.
Then, she finally digested what Sirius had just yelled at her.
"Wait, what date is it?"
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They had gone to church after they had surprised her. Ernie always took her to church every year for her birthday, it was tradition, he was very Catholic, she was baptized a handful of years ago.
Constance was Irish, therefore fit in with the local church crowd and was probably the only person in the group, other than Ernie, who could understand the priest's ramblings.
Squished in between Sirius and James on the pew, she tried to hold in giggles as James criticised the priest's teachings and Sirius' dramatic and sonorous snoring and the pair's jokes.
They halted after being shushed for the millionth time by the elderly lady before them and the young couple behind them and Ernie's disapproving glances and Constance's glares.
They had lunch at an elegant and fancy restaurant, with James pestering the waiter to no end and Sirius torturing them by constantly spilling his drink 'by accident' on and around the waiters and incidentally having his ice cream flop down onto the floor 'by itself', causing the snobby maitre'd to lose his toupee.
At this, Ernie had promptly resolved never to bring Lily's frieds anywhere.
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She grinned as they approached the humungous colorful structure looming just in plain view. After sitting in that theatre for two hours and trying to understand the gibberish that was Latin that was the medium of communication in the play.
Now, it was time for fun, not that she was any less appreciative of Ernie's attempts to make her birthday any less memorable and wonderful. Sirius and James had made sure that she remember this day with their antics.
Like all of the other activities they had done today, Ernie took her to a fair afterwards.
Skipping through the entrance with Sirius after Ernie had bought tickets, she didn't give a damn about how stupid she looked. It was her day and she could be as idiotic as she wanted.
She quickly dragged Sirius onto the first roller coaster that came in immediate view and she could almost hear Ernie's sigh of relief, knowing that he would no longer accompany her on this particularly horrendous ride.
With Constance and James close behind, she shoved Sirius into the tiny cart and let out a grin as he gulped at the sight of the coaster tracks.
"Hang on to your head, boy," she advised as the ride started.
Soon after, she had to stand beside him as he thrust his head into a garbage bin and started puking his brains out.
"You shouldn't've eaten that entire bag of chips on the way, y'know," she chided.
She handed him a paper napkin as his head emerged from the dark blue canister.
"If I had known that you would take me through that thing I wouldn't have."
"You done yet?" she asked, anxiously. "We better get on that line before it starts piling up again."
"Oh, no," he groaned as he was hauled once more, against his will onto a line which would cause another bout of nausea.
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"Lily, what do you think?"
Ernie broke through her thoughts, asking her about God-knows- what. She had been obviously not listening. She really needed to get her ears fixed and her attention span tweaked.
She had been staring off into space, more like the Love Tunnel ride, the only ride she had never experienced. She was curious, what was it about that tunnel that stimulated the fickle-like emotion which she people liked to call love.
"What did you say?"
"What did you think about the play, daft," Sirius rolled his eyes, tearing a piece of fluff off of her own cotton candy.
She scowled and laid it just beyond his reach. "Well, it was.neat?"
"You don't sound to sure."
"At least I didn't sleep through the entire thing," she countered, shooting him her evil eye.
Sirius stuck his tongue out and feigned hurt, turning up his nose and facing the opposite direction.
He spotted the Love Tunnel ride.
"Oooh!" he jokingly swooned. "Let's go on that ride!"
He pointed at it and dragged Lily, James and Constance along with him.
Ernie chuckled, shaking his head. "Children."
Lily snorted at the tacky swan vehicles and the papier-mâché cupids and hearts that studded the opening. The air was strongly perfumed, causing her to let out a series of coughs. Everything was colored a blinding shade of pinks, reds, whites and golds.
With Sirius shoving her into a yellowed-with-age swan, she could not fathom how couples were inspired to fall in love in this setting.
"Siri, I'm going ta hafta kill you for this."
"Then, you'd have to get yourself wet, and I don't think you'd care very much for that."
She turned and came face to face with. "Potter? Whatcha doin' here?"
"Sirius," he said simply.
"And he is.where?"
"Behind us, with Constance."
She stared. "You're letting your best friend put the moves on your girl?"
He shrugged as they entered the dark cave.
"This sucks," she complained, regarding the heavily scented air with as much disdain as she could muster through the haze of incense. "I think I might develop a couple of allergies after this."
"You've never been here before? I had been told that Mr. Erwin has taken you here every year for your birthday."
He was trying to make polite conversation, and not wanting to mess up the ride any more with petty squabbles, she answered him honestly, "Ernie loved to show me the highlights of the circus, y'know, especially the acrobats, told me I could do the same stuff they did, if I tried hard enough. It was supposed to motivate me to work harder, right? But like any other kid, I liked the elephants more, though I wasn't. Any normal kid, that is."
James looked at her expectantly, though she could not see his gaze, she felt it.
"Well." she was trying to choose her words carefully, not really thinking anyone would question her about this particular subject. "I've never really remembered a time wherein I actually believed in love. I just could never picture myself being swept off my feet by some knight-in-shining armor. And this whole Slayer thing only added fuel to it."
"Oh."
She could detect the sympathy in his voice. "You don't have to feel sorry for me or anything, I mean I think that I'll be the one carrying the knight off on some enchanted horse. Can't feel something that was never s'posed to be there in the first place. I really think it's a crazy notion, you know the one that says that there's only one soul for every person in this world. There are more than billions of people in this world, how do you know that that particular person is 'the one'?"
Blinding red light filtered in and centered on their vehicle.
They were surrounded by numerous mannequins that showcased the greatest couples of all time. She snorted again, thinking that it seemed very corny.
She turned and was met by his disbelieving gaze.
"What?"
"How can you not believe in love?"
She rolled on, trying to explain her principles. "I don't think that Slayers are supposed to have someone. Distractions, and all that. Kinda like that poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay: Love is not all; it is not meat nor drink Nor slumber, nor a roof against the rain; Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink And rise and sink and rise and sink again Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath Nor clean the blood nor set the fractured bone."
She was surprised when James joined her, "Yet many a man is making friends with death Even as I speak for lack of love alone."
"See, that's my point," she shrugged. "Falling in love's like killing yourself."
"But you forget the poem's second verse," he reminded.
"I'd rather not think of it."
"Well, I, on the other hand, believe in soul mates. We are born to find our other halves in this nonsensical world."
"Kinda cliché, dontcha think?"
"Someone once quoted that unrequited love due to fear is similar to committing yourself to death before your own tome."
"Quite a pretty analogy, though Slayers' deaths, like their lives, are quite different from those unlike themselves. Those beliefs are not applicable to me, I have been taught not to believe in those foolish things."
"Well," he said, slowly, gazing at her with a newfound understanding. "I reckon that's right."
"Sure is."
They were quiet for a while before she broke the silence by asking the question that ate away at the back of her head. "So, this-thing," For there was no other way to describe it. "-with Constance, is it gonna last?"
"No, I don't think it will," he confessed with an honesty that had her taken aback.
"So, all that you were just spewin' was all crap, then?" she was vehemently angry with him for seemingly using her friend.
He shook his head. "No, not at all."
"She's not the one, then?" she spat out furiously.
"I can't imagine her being the one this quickly. I barely know her."
"But you were sucking face with her last night," she answered matter-of-factly.
He grinned mischievously. "Jealous?"
"Of 'Stance?"
He nodded.
She shook her head. "No. Just don't wanna see my bud getting hurt and all. A Slayer with serious emotional issues kinda hurts the welfare of others and herself."
"I didn't actually start kissing her, she started kissing me."
"And?" she waited for him to elaborate.
"And.I don't really know why."
"Not your type?"
"Not really," he agreed.
"So," she asked, moving closer, hoping to extract some juicy details. "What is your type, then?"
"It's not as if Constance wasn't exactly a great person but we just didn't."
"Click?"
"Exactly."
"So?"
"Well," he leaned closer, whispering conspiringly. "I'm rather fond of blondes-"
"No, duh!" she smiled at him.
"Long hair, big eyes, strong women, independent minded," his face leaned closer, voice trailing and focused on her face and nothing else. "With an unbreakable spirit."
He leaned closer, his lips barely over hers.
She was shocked by her inability to resist his charms. They were both breathing heavily and she locked eyes with him, drowning in the tarns of deep brown, undeniably attracted to him.
Her skin tingled with anticipation; this would be her first kiss, and she would be sharing it with James Potter, something so special to be shared with someone who would never mean anything to her, someone she would never allow to get close to her.
His lips were almost on hers when a loud splashing sound broke the spell of the moment.
She quickly looked away, embarrassed. What had gotten into her?
She looked behind her, for lack of anything better to do and to get her mind off of James' penetrating gaze, hoping the bright red lights hid the deep crimson that tinged her chin.
She spotted Constance leaning over the bar with a guilty look on her face and she knew that Sirius had fallen off.
Grumbling, she pushed the safety bar off her and dived into the water after Sirius.
Her head emerged from the water and she grabbed Sirius by the scruff of his neck, forcing him to stand.
The water was chin-high for her and she was almost a foot shorter than Sirius.
"It was shallow, dumbass."
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A/N: I wasn't sure if I was gonna put this up, I'm not so sure about this. I just wanna thank all of my lovely reviewers who persuaded me to write a chappie such as this. I kinda made it on a whim.
Summary for the next chappie: I wonder if any of you read that Buffy book by Chris Golden, 'Night of the Living Rerun'. I'm gonna incorporate a bit of that into this story. Where Slayers receive dreams which are glimpses of their lives in the past, how they, as Slayers, had died.
That's where I'm gonna place a lot of my energy on l/j on.
THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOU GUYS WHO WANTED SOME ROMANCE. I DON'T THINK I'M REALLY GOOD AT THIS, THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T PLACE IT IN. Hope you like this.
And thank you to my reviewers and my loyal fans (Mech, you're possibly my first and #1 supporter) who weren't so much dissuaded by my lack of romance and updates. I've been kinda down lately. I just had this enormous disagreement with some people who I thought were my friends (I don't know how it all started, but you can see their childish retaliations in their flames and just to clear things up to people who had read them, I am not a lesbian, never was and never will be. I don't even read slash, being brought up by stiff Catholic parents and all.)
I just wanna thank everyone for their unending praises and support. (Don't worry, there'll be some l/j in chap. 18) So to my reviewers:
Celtic Ember-I'm tryin' to read your fics but I haven't much time and have only read stories my friends either wrote or printed out. I know, it's laziness but I've got two friends pesterin' me to write diff. Stories, so I'm doing my best! I'll read it this Nov., though. I ran outta internet time.
Milkyweed
Krissia
puddles
Red
Min Hee Ha
lalala(whoever you may be)
aurora riddle
The Fool's World
lollipozz
Vicky D
Shooting star
Akiko SkywalkerGreenleafPotter
Sierra Sitruc-Thanks for placing me on your fave list! I read a bit of your fic, He swings THAT way. It was absolutely hilarious and original!
sons
POD
nattie
moka
firebird16
ruby- I'm itchin' to have her beat Snape up, so look forward to that in the upcoming chapters. (
lilly-Yeah, she got her powers back. I couldn't imagine her as weak.
chewy- I'm glad someone finally thinks that I didn't make Lily entirely like Buffy. I agree that I made her a mixture of Faith and Buffy, Faith being my favorite character next to AtS Doyle and Spike.
Lee, aka Cami- Yay! Glad you like Sammy. I kinda re-read my past chapters and nearly died! I introduced her very badly but I'm terribly relieved that you like her. I don't usually like OCs 'cept for Tropical Fishy's Jo but I really loved Sammy. So thanks! Remy/Sammy forever!
Jess the Great- Here's a semi-love story. Chapter 18 will have them doing something more.
hpfan1750
aharrypotter1fan
Buffy Anne Summers-Here's a bit of l/j. More in chapter 18 but please read 17. It's my fave.
Remmi the Pyro
princess pixie ice
Cassie Gurl
AudrinLynneSkye
~dove~
lilygurl88
Mage Of Fire
trina-k
brittney
anita
Mickey802
Lil-lily
Fruity
The Infallible Teller
sal
Kar
applepie
Twistie
Kat
kirbee
Ethan-Thanks for putting me in your fave author's list! I checked the stat. thing. I'm just narcissistic that way. (
Chimichuji
*star*
me
Oh, yeah, btw REVIEW EVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW