AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Here's the next installment. Thank you to all that reviewed. The top part is the continuation of the last chapter. The bottom leads on to the next. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

~*~*~

CHAPTER 3: MEMORIES – GOOD AND BAD

Edi and Christine were the Chasers; Lucy the Beater; Maria the Keeper; and Lily the Seeker for the girls' team.

For the boys' team: Sirius and Scott were the Chasers; Peter the Beater; Remus the keeper; and James the Seeker.

"Okay, I'll let the balls out," James said. "Everyone up!"

Everyone mounted their brooms and flew up, except for James, and assumed their positions. Edi and Christine were both facing Sirius and Scott, who both wore identical smirks on their faces. The two girls just looked at each other, winked and nodded.

"Okay, I'm letting them go!" shouted James from the ground. He bent over, unlatched the trunk, and grabbed the quaffle. Then he let the bludgers go, followed by the golden snitch. As the three balls shot up into the air, James yelled again from the ground.

"Here it comes!" James threw the quaffle in the air, then mounted his broom and kicked off the ground and took flight.

The quaffle shot past the four chasers, and Edi was first to take off after it and grabbed it. Then she turned to the direction of the goals. She saw Peter aim a bludger her way. Right when it was going to hit her; she pulled herself upside down and then righted herself back up quickly. Then with a mischievous smile on her face, she shot forward towards Peter. Peter had a scared look on his face when he saw Edi coming straight at him.

"Uh-oh!" he stammered. Just when it looked like she was going to run right into him, she nudged her broom down a bit, and jumped over Peter's head and landed on her broom again, which flew underneath Peter.

"Whoa!" Peter exclaimed as he turned around.

Edi headed for the goal. Remus was waiting in front of the middle post, ready to block. Edi turned to look over her shoulder to see Sirius and Scott flying right behind her. Christine was flying off towards the side by the goals.

Scott reached her first and tried to knock the quaffle out from under her arm. But Edi managed to pull out of the way just in time. Sirius was about to grab it also when she tossed the quaffle into the air, hoisted herself up on her broom, jumped and kicked the ball right over Remus' head into the middle post. Edi landed on her broom again with a very satisfied smile on her face. Lily, Christine, Maria and Lucy all cheered as they flew to her, while the boys all had their mouths open, gaping.

"I don't believe it!" James said as he flew to Edi. "Wow! I've never seen anything like that!"

"Me neither!" Scott exclaimed, flying next to James.

"Wow, Edi!" Sirius called as he flew next to her. "You weren't kidding when you said that you'll be flying circles around James and Scott!"

Edi was blushing from all the praises she was getting. All the girls flew in and gave Edi hugs all the while laughing and cheering with excitement.

"Gosh Edi!" Lily exclaimed. "That was really amazing!"

"I've never seen anyone fly like that!" Lucy exclaimed. Christine and Maria were still laughing so hard to say anything.

Remus was still stunned from having his head nearly knocked off. And Peter was just shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, I for one have not seen anyone shoot the quaffle like that!" Scott exclaimed again. "Wow! I really hope that you get sorted into Gryffindor with us! We could really use you!"

"Well, I would be glad to have you on the team!" James said smiling at Edi.

"Me too!" Scott said. "Boy! Malfoy and the rest of the snakes won't know what hit them!"

Everyone laughed at that, then resumed playing. The game went on for a couple of hours with Sirius and Scott doing their best to out maneuver Edi. The other girls seemed to had been motivated by having another girl out doing the boys that it made them play their best. Sirius and Scott managed to take the quaffle away from the girls a few times but only scored three times. Lucy was a very good beater. She had managed to knock the quaffle out of Sirius and Scott's arms, and not actually knock them off their brooms. Although, Scott swore that she did try. The game finally ended when James caught the snitch. The score was 180 to 80, the boys' team.

They all landed on the ground and James and Remus put the balls away back in the trunk. Then they all headed back to the house where Mrs. Potter, James' mother, had prepared some refreshments for the group. They all talked about the game and the girls were rubbing it in that the only reason that they won was because James caught the snitch. The boys didn't argue. They saw how good a player Edi was and the motivation it gave the girls to play harder than they ever had.

When it started to get dark, everyone got up and headed to the Potters' fireplace. Sirius suddenly slowed to a pace. He wasn't in a hurry to go home. In fact, he didn't want to leave. James noticed the look on his friend's face and felt sad for him.

"Hey Sirius! Why don't you stay here?" James asked. "I'm sure mum and dad won't mind."

Sirius' face lit up. He glanced at Mrs. Potter who gave him a warm smile.

"Of course we don't mind Sirius!" she told him. "We'd love you to stay with us. In fact, you can stay until school starts!"

Sirius ran up to her and gave her a hug, fighting back tears. Everyone, but Edi, knew that Sirius was not happy at home. He was pretty much shunned because he was sorted into Gryffindor house, instead of Slytherin. And he had made friends with Muggle-borns, to which, as far as the rest of the Black family was concerned, was the lowest any purebloods could get.

Everyone thanked Mrs. Potter for her hospitality and made plans to meet back at Diagon Alley again the following day. Then one by one, they all flooed out of the Potters' and went home to their own. Edi was the last one.

"Er…I think I'll just Apparate home," she told Sirius, James, and Mrs. Potter, who was shocked.

"You know how to Apparate?" she asked bewildered. James and Sirius took turns telling her what Edi had told them and that they had witnessed it. Mrs. Potter was taken aback, but smiled warmly at Edi.

"Well, I know some people at the Ministry," she said. "If you want, I can take you there before the weekend so you can get registered.

"Really?" Edi asked shocked. "Wow! Thank you!"

"Oh no problem, my dear," Mrs. Potter told her, as she gave Edi a hug. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare supper. James come and help me."

"Oh mum!" James complained. Mrs. Potter raised an eyebrow at him. James finally caught on. 

"Oh alright!" he sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow Edi!" He turned to follow his mother to the kitchen, leaving Sirius alone with Edi in the living room. There was an awkward silence between them.

"Uh, do you want some company?" Sirius asked shyly. He was hoping that she'd say yes, but then his heart sank when she answered him.

"I would love for you to take me home Sirius," she said softly. "But the game really wore me out.  I wouldn't be very good company if I fell asleep on you!"

"Oh okay," he said, trying to hide his disappointment. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Most definitely!" Edi told him smiling. Then before Sirius knew what hit him, Edi had came up and kissed him on the lips and then hugged him. He was taken aback by it, but returned the kiss and hug, not wanting to let go.

"I had a great time today, Sirius," she said in his ear. "Thank you!"

"I'm glad you did, Edi," he whispered to her. "And it was my pleasure!" He nuzzled her hair and just hugged her tighter.

"I'll see you tomorrow Sirius," Edi said softly. He reluctantly let her go.

"Sweet dreams, Edi," he whispered. Edi smiled as she walked away grabbing her broom that she had leaned against the couch.

"Goodnight Sirius," she said. She smiled at him again and closed her eyes. Then, with a 'pop', she was gone.

Sirius sighed as he sat down on a chair by the fireplace. He smiled as he replayed the kiss over in his head. It was short, but sweet.

"Sirius?" Sirius turned to see James standing behind the chair. "Are you okay, buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, James," he told him, smiling. "But you're right about one thing, though."

"What's that?" James asked, as he sat down on the couch next to Sirius' chair.

"I think I am in love," Sirius told him. "With Edi."

~~~*@*~~~

When Sirius came down for breakfast, Remus was already in the kitchen reading the Daily Prophet. He looked up and smiled at Sirius.

"How are you feeling?" Remus asked, brows furrowed. He had heard Sirius crying last night when he had walked out of the room. He cried himself because he knew that Sirius had never given up on Edi.

"I'm fine Remus," Sirius said, giving him a weak smile. Remus just nodded at him and reached for a roll of parchment on the table.

"This came for you," he said, tossing Sirius the parchment. Then he chuckled. "I think it's from Harry."

Sirius reached up and caught the letter with one hand. He unrolled it and begun to read.

"Dear Sirius,

Hi! How have you been doing? Fine I hope. I'm doing okay over here I guess. Just really excited! I can't believe that I'm actually going to be living with you when school's over!  Everyone's excited too! How is Moony? Is he still taking his wolfsbane potion? Oh, speaking of which, Professor Snape taught Hermione how to make it! Can you believe it?! I can't! But anyway, the real reason I wrote again is to tell you that I think I'm going to tell Ginny about my feelings for her this summer. I've decided that Ron's going to have to deal with the fact that I'm in love with his sister!  Well, I got something on him anyway! He's in love with Hermione!

Anyway, I really can't wait until the holidays! I'll see you soon, Sirius!

Love, your godson,

Harry

Sirius chuckled when he finished reading Harry's letter. He suddenly felt anxious for the summer holidays to arrive.

Remus saw the happy look on Sirius' face and felt happy for him. He doesn't like to see people he cared about deep in sorrow. He knew how much Sirius loved Edi, but he just can't believe that he hadn't let her go yet. But then again, he couldn't let Christine go either. Remus shook the thought to the back of his mind and put on a happy face for Sirius.

"I've got a letter from ol' Dumbledore too," Remus said, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh yeah?" Sirius asked. "What did he have to say?"

"Well, he wanted to know if I would teach Defense against the Dark Arts again next term," Remus said, excitement in his voice.

"That's great Moony!" Sirius told his friend happily. Then he looked at him suspiciously when he saw Remus looking at him trying to be calm. "What?"

"Well, he also wanted to know, if you'd be interested in teaching a dueling class," Remus said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Sirius' eyes opened as wide as they would go and his mouth dropped. Remus couldn't help it. He burst into laughter.

"Is this a joke Moony?" Sirius asked irritated.

"No, it isn't!" Moony said in between laughs. He pushed a parchment on the table to Sirius. "Here, see for yourself!"

Sirius hoisted himself up to reach the parchment and read it. It was indeed from Albus Dumbledore, and he had in fact asked if Remus and Sirius would teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and a dueling class next school year.

Sirius looked up the letter to Remus with a huge smile on his face. Remus couldn't hold it again and just burst out laughing. Sirius finally joined in. He decided that he'd tell Harry and his friends about it when they arrive for the holidays. Sirius got up and let out a big whoop. Things were finally looking up for him. His name's been cleared, he's finally going to have Harry live with him, and now, now he'd gotten a job.

After breakfast, Sirius and Remus went out to the back gardens and worked on making it the way it used to be. Lily Potter loved flowers, and that garden was her haven. She used to always go out there either weeding or planting. James had built a gazebo in the middle of the garden with a bench swing in it. Then in front was a water fountain that had three dolphins sculptured to look like they were jumping out of the water, with water coming out of their bottlenose.

Sirius and Remus worked on restoring the garden all through lunch. When they were done, they sat on the bench swing in the gazebo watching the water fountain. The garden was restored to the way it used to be, laden with flowerbeds, tall trees that shaded most of the garden, climbing vines and an assortment of shrubs and hedges.

"Lily would be very happy right now," Remus said with a smile. His eyes scanned the garden, feeling the tears pooling in them.

"Yeah, she would be," Sirius replied, he too, starting to get teary eyed. "I really miss them Moony."

Remus looked at his friend, now crying freely.

"Me too, Padfoot," he said, his voice quivering. "Me too."

The two remaining Marauders sat in silence and tears remembering their old friends. Sirius had been the best man at James and Lily's wedding. They made him Harry's godfather when Harry was born. And at one point, appointed as their Secret-Keeper.

Sirius knew that someone close to the Potters was divulging information to Voldemort of their whereabouts. At one time, Sirius had suspected Remus, and vice versa. Sirius had convinced James and Lily to make Peter their Secret-Keeper at the last moment. A move that Sirius had been regretting ever since.

"I as good as killed them, Moony!" Sirius cried putting his face in his hands.

"No Sirius! It wasn't your fault!" Remus snapped. "We all trusted Peter! And now he's paid for it!"

Sirius sighed and wiped the tears off his face with the back of his hands.

"Yeah, he did," Sirius said angrily. "I believe that he's gotten the worst punishment.  Living, with no soul."

"Yes," Remus agreed. "Now come on. Let's go and make some lunch."

That night, back in his bedroom, Sirius was lying in his bed, looking at Edi's picture again. He knew that he should just let her go, but his heart wouldn't let him. His gut instincts tell him that she's alive and that he'd find her, and get some answers. He believed that no matter how terrible her secrets were that he would never stop loving her, and if she would have him, he'd still marry her and stay with her for the rest of their lives. A life that he'd wanted to have the day he realized that he loved her.

~*~*~

PLEASE REVIEW!!!