*Chapter 9*

Lily woke up on the morning of hers and Remus's parents funeral, they were having a joint service. She rolled her head to her side, and saw Ryan laying on the other side of her double bed, rolling her head the other way, she was Remus laying on the couch a blanket pulled up to his chin, both were still asleep. Silently she crawled out of bed, grabbed a pair of black pants, a matching black shirt and jacket, before slipping silently out of her room, past a sleeping James and Sirius, who were sleeping on couches in the basement room, forgoing beds in guestrooms, to stay close to their friends, and away from Petunia, who, despite the death of her parents still found it in her to scream at them because they were 'freaks', and slipped into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got dressed, deciding to skip makeup because it would undoubtedly only end up running or getting smudged from her crying and rubbing her eyes. Hurrying out of the bathroom, she saw James was awake and gave him a small 'I'm trying to be strong but I don't know if its going to work' sort of smile'. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it when she walked by as if to reassure her that he was their for her if she needed him.

Once they were all ready, they piled into Lily's jeep, which was one of her sweet-sixteen presents from her parents. It was a dark blue, and she loved it. The ride to the church was silent.

The service was held in a small church, both Remus and Lily remembered going to Christmas mass in, neither family was too, religious, but they would always go to Christmas mass together. Remus and Lily surprised their friends when they both got up at the same time and walked to the front of the church. Standing at the podium, side by side, Remus grabbed Lily's hand in his own and squeezed it. Lily cleared her throat.

"my mother once told me, that someone told her 'Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.' She told me it was one of the best pieces of advice she ever received, I've seen her live according to those words. She always wanted to learn more, explore something new. But she was always so full of life, if I wanted to do anything with her she would do it, from playing dress up when I was little, to going shopping, to sitting together in her study, drinking hot chocolate, talking about my boyfriends, or guys I thought were hot. We never left the house mad at each other. We could talk about anything. She was like one of my best friends. Remembering the first time my father took me to the batting cages, I remember the first thing he said was 'keep your eye on the ball, and swing when it feels right' but that advice not only got me to hit my first softball, I think it was, but got me threw some hard tests as well. My father was a wise man, he worked as a police man, and saved lives for his job. I was.. no I AM proud to be his daughter. And I will miss my parents, but what I have come to understand, while mopping around since I got the news my parents have died, is that they are not really gone, they're still there watching over me, and in my heart. And even though, I do not get to sit with my mother talking about guys, or go to the batting cages with my father, one of most influential males in my life, I can still remember the good times we had. And live by them. Elizabeth and Carl Lupin, better known to me as Beth, sometimes Bethy, and Cari, I was prone to nicknaming people when I was little, were also two important people in my life, my godparents. Living next door to them, and being best friends with their son, Remus, we probably spent more time at each others houses, than most kids spend with their godparents, but non-the less, we became close, I remember shopping trips, and days at the spa, with mama, and Bethy, and trips to the park with Remus, Dad, and Carl. The memories of these wonderful people are some of the best I have." Here lily broke down into tears so Remus continued for her. "Lily has just said everything I wanted to say, our parents were some of the most wonderful people we know, and we just wanted to thank everyone for coming to this service, and let them know, just how much we loved the people who brought us into the world and brought us up. And to reiterate Mari, "Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." Live life so you will hold no regrets, don't waste life, if you hold feelings inside, or don't say things that need to be said, you may regret it with time."

The two walked back to their seats, tears running down their cheeks, along with everyone else in the church.

Later, lily was standing in front of the graves of her parents, the coffin's had not been lowered yet, but most people had left, only lily and her friends remained, but James, Sirius and Ryan, had given the two time alone. Remus was standing a couple yards way next to the coffins of his parents, they were on the other side of the row, so he was basically right in front of her, but they were not paying attention to each other. She was holding two white lily's. slowly she stepped forward, and placed one on top of her fathers coffin. "Goodbye daddy, I'll miss you more than you can know, I love you." A tear slid down her pale cheek. Turning she placed the second lily on top of her mother's coffin. "Mama, I'm going to miss you Mama, so much, I love you, goodbye mama." Another tear slid down her cheek, and she felt a warm arm around her shoulder. Looking up she saw Remus. "Ready Lils?"

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess" The two slowly made their way to the car, where their friends were waiting.

The next day the five boarded the Hogwarts express to venture back to the school. Lily had moved her things to Remus's house, as her sister had been left the house, while she had inherited, a good deal of money, and most of what was in the library, now stored in boxes in a closet at Remus's, her car was also left at his house. The two had agreed to live at his house for the remaining summer before they were out on their own, petunia technically had custody of lily, as she was of age, but Petunia had said she wished to never speak to Lily again, so they figured she wouldn't care.

Lily woke up to find herself leaning on James, while he slept, across from Sirius who was laid out across the seat. Remus and Ryan, we not in the compartment. Blinking she sat up. And grabbed for her bag, just as the compartment door slid open. Ryan and Remus walked in, hand in hand, fingers laced. Lily smiled her first real smile in days. As she looked at the two who were also smiling. she looked at Ryan with a questioning expression. Ryan nodded, and Lily jumped up suppressing a squeal, because James and Sirius were asleep, and hugged her two best friends. But the movement had woken James up anyway. When he saw Lily hugging the two he was a bit confused, until he saw the pairs hands laced together. "you guys took long enough" he stated, causing the threesome to jump, not knowing he had been awake. The pair grinned sheepishly, and shrugged.

"I figured I should take some of Mari's advice." Remus said, as a dark expression crossed his face, but it soon passed when Ryan squeezed his hand. The rest of the ride was spent talking quietly, or in Sirius's case, snoring. But when the ride was over, they were ready to face the hustle-and- bustle of normal school life.

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two chapters in one day! Yay me! You know you love me! :-D

I think that's all! I left a big note in the other chapter! Well Enjoy!

Ta! ~ Rin