Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, 'cept for previously mentioned ones. The line 'Annie was leaning against the wall. James was kissing her. He had his hand up her shirt' came from the book, 'The Secret of Sarah Revere' by…I don't remember.
A/N: Ah, welcome friends, to the next installment of Safe At Home. How many people liked the moving factor? ::raises hand:: I did! I'll tell you a little secret: {Annie was made to get rid of} ::giggles:: I knew, before I even wrote that first word, that Annie would go bye-bye. I made her a Texan for a reason, and that reason was to send her back. You'll see why later. Bold is still dreams.
Dedication: Okay folks, it's time to make my dedication. This chapter is for JESWIN! JESWIN said that there wasn't much romance. Well, this is what this is! A romance chapter! And I can not write romance very well. Sorry. BTW, sorry this took so long. Stupid writer's block.
Sirius lay awake, thinking of what James had said. He knew he had to talk to Lily, but what would he say? Lily, I love you? Lily, you mean the world to me? Lily, you were a light in the dark? Sirius sighed and continued to think. After a few minutes, he accidentally dropped off.
"I love you. You mean the world to me. Through all the darkness, you were a light. We all have our demons, but you chased mine away. I love you so much, when we're apart, I feel like part of me is missing. I can never express my love to you in merely words. Can I kiss you?" The boy with black hair kissed a redhead. She giggled and said, "Oh Siri…I love you." He smiled tenderly at her. "Lily…"
Sirius woke suddenly. I must thank my subconscious some day. I know what to tell Lily! He checked the clock and saw that it was a suitable time to wake up. Well, that's one thing that's bloody going well.
Sirius leaped out of bed. He quickly got dressed, managing to wake the others in the process. "Sirius!" groaned Gus, "I was hoping to sleep in today."
"Oh, shut up," Sirius said. "James, remember what we agreed to do?"
James groaned, but nodded. He rolled out of bed and began getting dressed. Sirius followed suit. When the two boys were dressed, they ran out of the dormitory and knocked on the door of the girl's dormitory.
A wide-awake Lily opened the door. "Siri, James! What do you want?"
"We want you and Annie," Sirius replied.
Lily frowned, but yelled, "Annie, James wants you!"
Annie, also wide awake, flounced over. "James, I already said we can't--"
"I know, but I have to talk to you," James said.
"And I have to talk to you, Flower," Sirius added. "Astronomy Tower?"
Lily looked apprehensive. "Well…okay."
Sirius took Lily's hand and led her to the Astronomy Tower. "Sit down," he said, pointing to the floor.
Lily sat. Sirius sat beside her. Sirius took a deep breath. "Lily, I love you. You mean the world to me. Through all the darkness, you were a light. We all have our demons, but you chased mine away. I love you so much, when we're apart, I feel like part of me is missing. I can never express my love to you in merely words. Can I kiss you?"
Lily gaped at Sirius. "What…why…of course you can."
Sirius leaned in and their lips met in a sweet kiss. The kiss soon turned into a full out snog fest. They broke apart only when they needed to breathe.
"Sirius!" Lily gasped, "What is this all about?!"
"Lily, I meant what I said. I love you, and when James and Annie had to break up because of Annie's moving, it made me realize I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I've kind of ignored you lately, and I'm sorry," Sirius said.
Lily looked speechless. After a moment, she said, "Oh, Siri…I…I love you too. I always will, even if you ignore me. But I was starting to think you didn't care about me."
Sirius kissed her gently. "I do, Flower, more than you probably realize."
The couple sat in the Astronomy Tower for a long time, occasionally kissing or snogging, before they left. They walked back down to the main castle, and were startled to see how much time had passed. It was nearly lunchtime!
"Bloody Hell!" Sirius gasped. "How could that much time pass?"
Lily smiled at her boyfriend. "Time flies when you're having fun."
Sirius gave her a sly smile. "Oh, that wasn't fun…this is." Then Sirius kissed Lily in the middle of the hallway.
"Siri!" Lily squealed, "Stop it! Kisses are for private moments! Not in the middle of the hallway!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on, Flower. Maybe we should…um…walk around until lunchtime."
Lily nodded, so the couple walked in the direction of the library, holding hands. Sirius suddenly burst out laughing. "Looks like James and Annie don't share your kissing beliefs!" Lily looked where Sirius was pointing and starting giggling.
Annie was leaning against the wall. James was kissing her.
He had his hand up her shirt.
Sirius grinned at Lily. She whispered, "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"What do you think I'm thinking that you think I'm thinking?" Sirius replied.
"I think you're thinking what I think you're thinking and I think you're thinking about yelling out 'Hi James!' or something like that," Lily said.
Sirius grinned and held up one finger, then two, then three. "HI JAMES, HI ANNIE!"
They both jumped.
"Sirius Orion Black!" James yelled.
"Lillian Angie Anne-Marie Evans!" Annie yelled at the same time.
Sirius sniggered. "Lillian Angie Anne-Marie Evans? You said your middle name was just Marie!"
Lily blushed. "Andromeda Cassiopeia Starr, I'm going to kill you!"
Annie shrugged. "Not if you're already dead."
"That's right," James added, "We have to kill you two for interrupting us."
James and Annie exchanged a look, nodded, leapt on Sirius and Lily, and started tickling them. "Apologize!" James demanded.
"I'm--sorry!" Lily shrieked, laughing.
James and Annie stopped tickling her, but continued tickling Sirius.
"St-stop!" Sirius laughed.
"Not until you apologize," Annie replied.
Sirius laughed madly as he shook his head. "Never!" James and Annie kept tickling him, joined by Lily. "Come--on, I-I mean--it!"
"Apologize then!" James yelled.
Sirius started gasping for breath. "All--right, I'm--sorry!"
They stopped, and Sirius began panting like his Animagus counterpart. "I see…you talked…to Annie."
"I see you have a reason for being a dog," James replied.
Sirius grinned, still panting. "So, do you two realize it's nearly lunchtime?"
"Nearly? It is lunchtime now, Siri," Lily said.
Sirius gasped, a look of pretend horror on his face. "Oh no! The great Padfoot the Great is late for lunch!"
Everyone laughed, and James then said, "Sirius and Lillian, would you care to join my lovely date Andromeda and I on a double date to the Great Hall?"
"Why yes, Sir James, we would love to," Lily replied. So, holding hands, the two couples went to the Great Hall.
Sirius sat down next to Remus, with Lily on his other side. James sat across from Remus with Annie across from Sirius.
"Hey Remus, what have you been up to?" Sirius asked.
Remus shrugged. "Not much."
"Did you have a wonderful time away from James and me?"
"Hmmm," Remus replied.
Sirius knew something was wrong. "Remie? What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, Sirius. I was just, you know…thinking about my Mum and Dad…"
Sirius nodded. "Oh."
"But I'm going to stop thinking about that. So, Lily, Sirius, James, Annie, did you have fun?"
Lily blushed, Sirius nodded, but James looked sad.
"James?" Sirius asked.
James sighed. "Well, Annie will be moving soon, and I…I was just…thinking about how much I'll miss…" A tear slipped from James' eye. "Now I'm crying over it. Great."
"Hey, crying is okay," Sirius said. "But we can all still be friends, though, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. But I…I'll miss you as a girlfriend though Annie," James said sniffling, partly to Sirius, partly to Sirius.
A new, very unwelcome voice said, "Hey Potter, picked up a few things from the mon--I mean, Lupin?"
This caused a bit of an uproar.
Sirius yelled, "SHUT UP, SNAPE!"
"Bastard!" Annie added.
James glared and said, "Go back to your little bunch of Death Eaters."
And Remus, his fists clenched, stood up and said, in a would-be-calm tone, "Go. To. HELL!"
"Well, I'm impressed. Lupin didn't cry this time."
Sirius snapped. He stood up and punched Snape in the nose, breaking it again. "Shut up about us Snape! NOW!"
Snape glared at him. "I will say what I want, Black! And you can't stop me!"
"No, but all of us together could certainly do some harm to your ugly face. And maybe some other places too," James added.
Snape sneered. "Oh yeah? What harm could a couple of girls, some obnoxious boys and a monster do?"
In one movement, Remus grabbed the front of Snape's robes and slammed him against the wall. "I would advise you to shut the fuck up now!" he growled.
Snape quaked under Remus' fierce stare.
"Lupin! What is the meaning of this?" Carson asked, dashing over.
"Snape came over and started insulting us, sir," Remus answered.
Carson sneered. "And that gives reason to attack him? I don't think so, Lupin!"
Sirius wasn't going to let Remus take all the blame. "Um, I broke his nose, sir."
"And I verbally assaulted him," James confessed.
"I did too," Annie added.
"You should all be expelled," Carson hissed.
Professor McGonagall came over. "What is the problem here, Professor Carson?"
"Lupin and Black physically assaulted Snape, Potter and Starr verbally assaulted him, Minerva," Carson said.
"Explain," McGonagall said.
"Well, Professor, James was a little...er…upset, and Snape came over and said something like, 'Potter learned a few things from the monster, I mean Lupin', because he's came by when I was um, crying, once, and so, um, Sirius, Annie, James and I basically told him to go away, and insulted him, he said 'I'm surprised Lupin didn't cry this time'. Sirius then…erm, punched Snape in the nose and told him to shut up, Snape said something like, 'What harm could a couple of girls, some obnoxious boys and a monster do' and then I um…grabbed Snape's robes and um, slammed him against the wall. That was when Professor Carson came over," Remus explained. Now that Sirius heard someone saying it aloud, it seemed a childish thing to have done.
"Is this true Mr. Snape?" McGonagall asked.
Snape nodded, slightly sullen, because he had to admit to the insults.
"All right, ten points from Slytherin, twenty from Gryffindor, detention for three days for Black and Lupin, and detention for one night for Snape because I believe Dumbledore said something about not telling about something," McGonagall said.
They all nodded, and the professors and Snape left them.
"Well, it could have been worse," James said.
Sirius sort of half-smiled. "Yeah."
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The week went by. Remus and Sirius served their detentions, and James and Annie snogged every day. Then on Friday, Annie packed her trunk. Saturday came all too soon.
"I'm really going to miss you guys," Annie said, crying.
"We'll miss you too," Remus said. The others nodded.
Annie smiled through her tears. "I know."
Lily sighed. "You're my best friend. Always will be."
Annie sniffled. "You're mine Lily."
Professor McGonagall entered the common room. "Andromeda, your parents are here."
Annie burst into a fresh wave of tears. "Bye guys."
"Bye Annie," everyone murmured.
Lily hugged her friend, then Remus did, Peter, Sirius, and finally James.
"I love you," James whispered in her ear.
Annie sniffled. "Me too." she whispered back. "Bye…" she said as she left the common room.
None of them ever saw her again.
Ciria: Yes, I don't much like Annie either. Peter just left, cause he didn't really want to get involved. Did she do what on purpose? I got Sirius' thought of James from…imagination? I dunno. Yes, Sirius does love Lily deeply.
geordie lass 4eva: Thanks!
jeswin: Yup, this is for you. Yes, interaction between others is good. Glad Annie didn't turn out to be a noxious bi*? Out of character? No, it's rather in character. I'm surprised anyone liked Annie, I hate her to be frank. Hmm, well, I'm sure you CAN hear me. You just don't want to J
GoldenRose: Thanks!
Tiger Lily: Thanks!