Shadows of Fond Memories
A Short Little Fic
*Just a quick little note:
Someone asked (I think it was littlewhitehorse) how long this story will be. My estimate is about 4 or 5 chapters.
Missy— you said Remus was leaving something out at the end of the last chapter. Of course he was. If he didn't this chapter wouldn't exist. So it shall be explained.
This chapter is really long compared to all the other chapters, so I guess that's good news for all of you readers.
Thanks for the reviews. Please keep them coming. Also, if you don't like something or have a suggestion to enhance my writing skills or the story, tell me. If it's your honest opinion, it won't kill me.
-Kait*
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling, I am not. So please don't infer that I am. Although, I'm sure you can tell from my primitive attempts at writing, that I am in fact, not JKR. Everything here belongs to her but the plot (I used my own brain to think it up).
Chapter 3- A (Siriusly) Perfect Moment
Lily
I have to make one thing crystal clear before I say anything else.
Sirius Black is a complete prat.
Alright, now that we've established that, I suppose I should get on with the story.
Well, my parents had this big idea of creating family unity by going on vacation during Christmas holiday.
I know what you're thinking and that was my thought process exactly.
I'd never be able to "connect" with Petunia. She had got a forty-foot force-field of "I hate Lily" around her.
Not that I would even bother to try anyway.
So our parents dragged us to a ski lodge about an hour away from our home. Other than my immediate family, Vernon Dursley, my sister's obnoxious boyfriend, came with us, much to the objection of my parents. My mum and dad seemed to realize the fact that with Vernon coming with us, there wouldn't be many "loving family" events, so Petunia had to grovel. It was quite entertaining and I was really pulling for her, too, because the less Petunia I have to see, the better.
But somehow my parents managed to get us to have a "family trip" all the same. They told Petunia that if Vernon wanted to come, he had to teach Petunia and myself how to ski. So Petunia agreed, and he came.
I was not happy.
Vernon and Petunia around me at all times? Some vacation that would be.
I honestly would rather be stuck on a desert island with Potter, having to pound through his thick skull that we were going to die. Of course after I told him this, I would force him to go to the other side of the island so I could die in peace.
And that's saying something that I would rather be with Potter. I suppose it shows my hatred for my sister and her boyfriend. Well…not hatred…that's too strong a word. It's more like a "dislike with the burning intensity of a thousand suns."
Well, I'm sure you can gather that I'm upset with this situation, so I'll move away from my anger, and on with the problem at hand.
When we got to the mountains, my parents discreetly decided to take an ice-skating class, rather than go skiing. Unfortunately, when I insisted that I would love to learn how to ice-skate again, they declined. This is when I realized that somehow, in their twisted minds, they had come to the conclusion that the only way to have Petunia and I get along, was to force us together.
The chairlift ride up the mountain was mighty quiet, let me tell you. It was like in all those stories where they say that "there was so much tension in the air you could cut it with a knife." I never really knew what that meant until that ride. I think if it weren't for all the people on the mountain at could have been witnesses to a murder; Petunia would have ringed my neck. Luckily, this place was more packed than a day in the crowded halls of Hogwarts.
So, then we finally got to the top of the peak, and off the chairlift when the worst thing I imagined happens.
"See you at the bottom, freak!" Petunia yelled to me as she started down the mountain with Vernon, "Break a leg. Literally."
Wonderful. So I'm stranded at the top of a huge mountain with no means of getting to the bottom of it. My own sister left me… And since when can she ski?
I decided that the best thing to do was to take off my skis and trudge down the hill. I wasn't about to kill myself on skis to prove a point to my stupid sister.
I could just see the headlines now, "Girl Dies on Mountain in Freak Accident."
Not happening.
As I began to walk down the mountain, feeling cold and having to bear the weight of skis and ski poles in my arms I heard a familiar voice calling out behind me.
"Evans! Oy, Lily Evans!"
For heavens' sake! Who's sprouted from the ground to torture me now?
I whirled around to see who was shouting for me. But apparently the turn wasn't as graceful as I thought it was, because I found myself lying in the snow.
A boy by the name of Sirius Black towered over me, laughing. "Good one, Lils."
I glared at him, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me up anyway. I gave him points for approaching me even though he knew I wasn't all that fond of him.
"Hullo, Sirius," I said, fairly annoyed, brushing off the snow from my clothes, "What brings you to 'Muggle-ville?' "
"A ski trip," he said smiling and handing me my skis, "With a few friends."
I stopped dead in my tracks. A few friends? That obviously meant James, Remus, and Peter weren't too far from here. They never went anywhere without each other. Sometimes, I wondered if they were glued to one another, or something.
"Friends?" I managed say, "Where would they be?"
Sirius grinned at me again.
Damn it! He could tell I was uncomfortable.
"Well, Peter and Remus, you know them right?" He questioned sarcastically. I was convinced that he was doing it just to make me angry.
"I know who they are," I grimaced, as I picked up my poles, "Care to elaborate on that?"
"Sure," he replied, laughing at my sour mood. "Yeah, well, they're in the lodge. And James…" he paused, flashing me another grin.
Ugh…he was doing this just to make me strangle him. I was sure of it.
"…I'm not sure where he is. He sort of just wondered off."
"Oh, great," I said, not really sure how to respond.
"So why aren't you skiing, Miss Lily?" Sirius asked, teasingly.
I could hex him. Honestly, I'm not even joking.
"I can't. I don't know how to," I admitted, even though I didn't want to.
His face kind of fell, as the grin dropped from it. He looked pretty sorry that he had been poking fun at me in the first place.
"Well, do you want to learn?" He asked me respectfully.
"Sure, why not." I told him, grinning for the first time in a long time at Sirius Black.
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Sirius helped me halfway down the mountain, and I thanked him graciously every minute. I was getting a little better, but it was definitely taking a while. I felt a bit terrible for him, because here he is on vacation, having to teach me how to ski, since he agreed to and I was wasting away his time. He was beginning to look bored, and I feared that this would probably lead me back to the situation I had been in before. Stranded.
Apparently, I have a sixth sense because as soon as I thought this, and group of attractive blonds came skiing down the hill, after a boy with messy black hair a few feet ahead of them.
I swear, Sirius must have a "girl radar" or something, because as soon as I spotted them, so did he.
He eyed one of the blonds with interest, and as if it was magnetic, she looked back at him flirtatiously.
It seriously freaked me out.
Then he seemed to realize that I was next to him, and he was supposed to be teaching me how to ski.
He gave me a pleading look. "Please, Lily?"
My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. I couldn't ski, so if he left, what the hell was I going to do?
"Sirius…I…"
"Come 'on, Lils! You can ski down this hill. You getting to be pretty good," he told me, lying through his teeth and yet somehow managing to smile sweetly at me. "Please?"
I knew by now, that no matter what answer I gave Sirius would go anyway. It was like asking a teacher for a pass the Restricted section in the library; even if they say no, you're still going to try and sneak in anyway. It was pointless, basically.
"Sure…go ahead." I replied unwillingly.
He flashed a grin again, before parting. "You know, you were always my favorite one…"
I had to smile, even if I had a new-found hate for him.
"Just go, you blockhead!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Faster than a burst of light, he shot down the hill to follow the girls.
I sighed, and began to think of how I could get down the mountain without ending up in a hospital. In could try skiing down really slowing, but the only problem with that is that Sirius hadn't exactly shown me how to stop yet. Well, he had tried to, but apparently, that's one of the things I couldn't master about skiing.
How convenient, right?
So, I stood on the hill working up the courage to go down to the bottom. As I stood there, I watched all the people whiz by me, expertly gliding through the sparkling white snow. There was no way I would be able to do that. Ever.
"Now's as good a time as any to go down," a voice from behind mocked me.
Right on cue, too. Could someone please tell me why James Potter always shows up in the most embarrassing parts of my life? Please tell me?!
"Yeah, I realize that, Potter." I told him icily, not bothering to turn around. I don't want to see his sneering face. It's my vacation, and no matter how much it sucks, I'm going to enjoy the fact that it sucks and Potter's not there to see it suck...If that makes any sense at all.
"So ski down then," he challenged me.
This is when I turned around.
"Why do you bloody well care if I go down the hill or not?"
He smirked at me. God, I hate it when he smirks at me. I want to swipe that smile right off his face…
"I don't care," he said, grinning at me. "You're just in my way."
"Then go around me," I said, anger building up inside of me, as I clenched my fists around my ski poles.
He seemed to be enjoying this. How twisted is that?
"Ah…but I don't feel like going around you."
"Fine. I'll go down then." I said, exasperated with him. Now I just wanted to get away from James. At least if I was in the hospital, I wouldn't have to see his face. Or if he somehow appeared in my hospital room, I could have a bunch of nurses kick him out.
I started down the hill slowly, just to be careful. I could hear him snickering at me, behind my back so I picked up the pace.
Unfortunately, there was this ski jump some stupid fifteen year olds had made, called a mogul. Sadly, it made me wipe out in the snow.
And then some little kid speeding down past me yelled, "Yard sale! Yard sale! She did a yard sale!"
Whatever the heck that means.
I tried to sit up in the snow, but that wasn't working out so well. As I looked around me, I could see that all my things, my skis, poles, and cloves, were disheveled and scattered in the snow.
I can't say that I wouldn't be happy to never see any snow again. In fact, it would be too soon.
"Here," James said stopping at my feet and holding out his hand to guide me up. "Let me help you."
I scowled at him. "You don't care about what happens to me, remember?"
"I do care," he said defensively, but then took it back, "Or, at least, I don't want you to get hurt."
"Right, Potter." I said rolling my eyes angrily, and getting myself on my feet without his help. Then I began to pick up my gloves and skis. "You care. That's a laugh."
"Where's Sirius anyway?" he asked, blatantly changing the subject. He pulled my ski poles from their place in the ground and handed them to me. "Wasn't he with you earlier?"
"Yeah, but he left to follow a bunch of girls."
You cannot imagine how amazed I was at this moment.
James Potter and I were having a fairly rational conversation.
Woah.
"I can't believe he would do that. And when he knew you couldn't ski, too." James said.
He looked kind of upset, like he was mad at Sirius or something. I blinked a few times to make sure that what I was seeing wasn't some kind of illusion on my part.
It wasn't.
"Since when have you suddenly become my stalker, Potter?" I asked him, thinking that maybe he wasn't so bad.
Maybe he was just like everyone else, and not as arrogant as he made himself out to be. Maybe he could actually act like a human, showing feelings and emotions.
Oh, the horror!
He had the decency to blush a bit, as he replied, "Never. I just spotted Sirius teaching you how to ski when I was going down the hill."
"Oh."
Well, I had no idea what to say!
"So do you want to get down this hill, or not, Evans?" he said, challenging me again, with a grin that lit up his entire face handsomely.
"With or without your help?" I questioned him, grinning back.
"Your choice, I suppose." He answered back, running his fingers through his hair.
"Preferably with your help, because I see no one else around who is willing to teach me to ski." I said teasingly.
"Well, let's go then," he said pointing at the lodge at the bottom of the mountain. "You ready?"
"Almost," I replied, popping my boots back into my skis. "Alright, let's go."
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I somehow managed to ski down the hill. With help and very slowly, mind you. James kept checking his watch as we went down to make fun of me.
Prat.
I was okay at skiing now that James had shown how to stop. And when we reached the base of the hill, I was actually keen on going up the mountain again.
This chair ride was surprisingly more enjoyable than the last, with Petunia and Vernon. James could be kind of funny sometimes and had somewhat of a sense of humor that was better than Petunia's.
"Hey, James?" I told him, "Thanks for helping me down the mountain."
He smiled at me genuinely. "No problem."
The next thing I wanted to ask him, I wasn't too sure on how to word it. It kind of just stumbled out of my mouth.
"So…are we…I don't know…less than enemies now?"
"I guess we are," he said, grinning at me, "So, yeah."
"That's nice, then."
"It is."
It was a little silent for a while, as we just settled on the idea of being almost friends. It was unnerving. I'd always thought of James Potter as a huge pain in the arse, but now, I wasn't sure what to think of him. It was really weird.
I shifted in the padded seat of the chairlift car. I laughed quietly as I noticed James doing the same thing.
He just gave me a quizzical glance and then looked down at the land below us.
"Lily!" James nudged me to get my attention, "Isn't that Sirius down there?"
Indeed it was. He seemed to be talking to a girl with long blond hair animatedly.
My anger towards Sirius flared up again.
"Give me your poles!" James instructed me, as I stared at Sirius.
Okay, that's an odd thing to say.
"Wha—why?" I asked him, feeling dumbfounded, but I handed them over anyway.
What did he want with my ski poles?
"See Sirius?" he asked me again.
I'm not blind. Clearly I see him.
"Yeah…so?"
"Well, do you think I can hit him?" he questioned, giving me a side-long glance.
You've got to be kidding me. James would never do anything like that…at least not to his best friend. He always struck me as someone who really loyal to you once he deemed you worthy to hang out with him. Maybe he'd throw ski poles at Severus Snape, or someone of that nature, but never Sirius.
"You must be joking!" I scoffed at him, "You just don't do that to your friends!"
"You obviously don't know me very well," he replied, displaying an evil grin on his face, and aiming one of the poles. "Ready?"
He was just about to throw it when—
"James—wait!" I cried out to stop him.
"Why?" he challenged me, smiling innocently.
I smiled back, but not innocently.
"Tie the poles together—you'll have a better shot at hitting him." I said in response, laughing at my idea a little.
I feel so wicked doing this to Sirius but...that's the way it works.
"Lily Evans," he stated to me, laughing, "I like the way your mind works."
He handed me one of the attached ski poles and said, "On the count of three… One…"
"Two…" I called.
"Three!" we said together, and chucked the poles at Sirius' head.
I know it wasn't a nice thing to do, but when the poles hit his back and he fell forward, I burst out laughing.
"Yard sale! Yard sale!" Some kid called from the chair in front of us called to Sirius and the girl next to Sirius started to giggle.
As he got up, and brushed himself off, I saw him look up and at James and me with murder in his eyes.
"Uh, oh," James laughed, "I think that's our cue to bow out."
As the chairlift came to an end at the top of the hill, we could be seen laughing the whole way down the ski trail. I think anyone who went to Hogwarts would be amazed to see James Potter and Lily Evans standing near each other, let alone laughing with one another.
If anything, they'd be scared.
When we entered the lodge doors at the end of the run, we spotted Remus and Peter near the windows.
Remus gave us the oddest look and said, "This is a dream, in five seconds I'm going to wake up. Someone pinch me now."
Peter most have taken him literally because a huge "Ooww!" erupted from Remus' lips and within two seconds he was hobbling on his crutches after Peter, who was running for his life.
I grinned and looked up at James, next to me, laughing. His face was lit up as he watched Remus chase Peter.
Maybe he really wasn't so bad after all…