OMG IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG! IM SOOOO SORRY. BUT TO MAKE UP FOR IT I HAVE
THIS CHAPTER AND ONE WITHIN A FEW DAYS THAT ARE LIKE 36,000 WORDS!! YEA!
PLEASE READ BELOW!!! THANK YOU!!!
OH YES B4 I 4GET. OK IN THE LAST CHAPTER WHEN IT SAID ????? ALL OVER THE PLACE IS DID SAY SOMETHING BUT THE COMPUTER DIDN'T READ IT I GUESS BUT IS SAID: In honor of the greatest pranksters ever: The Marauders of Hogwarts: Moony, Prongs, and Padfoot.
Please tell me if this is good or not? R/R. Thanks! I don't have much time and I'm never home to go on the computer so sorry.
~*~
Harry woke up the next morning realizing where he was. He rolled over attempting to maybe catch a few more minutes of sleep when his eyes moved over to the clock. 9:00.
Harry jumped out of bed. His classes had already started. He changed his clothes and got his things and ran to the door, then came back and quickly picked up something off of his dresser and ran.
By the time he got to the classroom, it was half over but Harry went anyways because it was his favorite class and one of the only things he had forward to looking to all day. Remus had already written a lot on the board and the students were scribbling on their parchment, taking notes.
He opened the door and everyone looked up.
"So you have decided to join us Mr. Potter," said Remus.
Ron and Hermione gave him anxious looks as he approached them.
"Where were you?" whispered Hermione.
They looked and saw Remus staring and stopped talking.
When Remus turned around to write on the board again, Harry took out the tickets and put them on Ron's desk.
Ron cautiously looked over at them and his eyes widened. He picked them up in his trembling hands, speechless, mumbling words to Harry, when he fainted and fell back in his chair.
The whole class turned and looked at them.
"Oh my, what happened to Mr. Weasley? Does he need to go the hospital wing?" asked Remus.
"No, he's fine, just a bit of shock, that's all," said Harry smiling and helped Ron up.
Class was over and Hermione and Harry practically dragged Ron out of class.
"But...but..how?" stuttered Ron.
"Oh, an old friend sent them to me," said Harry as he and Hermione walked off to Potions.
~*~
They barely made it down to the dungeons because of Ron. They got seats in the back and waited for class to start.
"Well Mr. Potter I hope you enjoyed yourself last night," said Snape and the Gryffindors snickered.
"10 points from Gryffindor," said Snape and the laughter were now heard from the Slytherins.
"Now, begin," said Snape and the directions appeared on the board.
Harry reread the directions four times to make sure he did it right but it could not be as red as Hermione's, though better than the others that were pink.
Potions went by unusually quickly with out too many remarks from Snape. By the time Potions was over, Harry had managed to lose 40 points for Gryffindor, which weren't entirely his fault. Like it wasn't his fault that he had put the vile with his potion on the "wrong side" of this desk, whatever that meant. Harry was exhausted from having to go around and clean up the "messes" that he made.
As Hermione went off to dinner, Harry headed up to the common room to rest a while.
~*~
That night, Harry was practicing with his team about their new moves. He made them work very hard especially since Wood was coming. Harry was excited yet nervous at the same time and he could see it in his team as well. They practiced a bit more until 8:30 and then Harry let them go. He didn't want them all worked up. As he and Ron started putting back the Quidditch equipment, Ron started to speak.
"So Harry, excited?" asked Ron.
"Yes, are you?" said Harry.
"Bloody hell yea!" said Ron, which made Harry chuckle, "In the stadium, with all those people, even Bill and Charlie are coming to see us!"
"I know, I can't wait," said Harry and they started back towards that castle.
They went up to the common rooms to find Hermione, huddled over, knitting madly.
"My god Hermione, still going on about S.P.E.W." said Ron.
"YES Ron it there a problem with that," snapped Hermione.
"Well it's so stupid that you make those dumb hats," said Ron.
"Well, at least I do something," said Hermione angrily.
Harry sat down in the armchair next to the fire, attempting to read Quidditch Throughout the Ages.
"Well, none of those stupid elves are going to just quit and do as you say!" yelled Ron.
Other people were starting to get annoyed.
"How do you know, Dobby did!" screamed Hermione.
Harry couldn't take it anymore.
"Oh no, here you go with Dobby-"
"STOP!"
Everyone stopped moving and looked at Harry.
"My god stop bickering like an old married couple. You're not even going out yet and you know you like each other so would you just ask her out Ron so we can all have some peace!" yelled Harry and went up to his dormitory. He sat on this bed. Then he decided to take a ride on his broom.
He was soaring around the field, up over the lake. He could feel the wind hitting his face. He was up in the air. This is where he was free. He could be up in the sky forever, playing Quidditch. Maybe that's what he wanted to be, a Quidditch player, not an auror. That is, if he lived to do it. Of course, the stupid prophecy. He hadn't told anyone about it yet. He didn't know if he wanted to or not. He started slowly flying around the castle when he thought he heard someone call his name.
He turned around to see that he was at Dumbledore's office window and he was motioning for him to come in. he landed inside and plopped himself down on a chair. As Dumbledore went to close the window, Fawkes came over to greet him.
"Hello, Fawkes," said Harry as the bird landed on his knee.
"Ahh, I see you're on a midnight stroll Harry, or should I say midnight fly?" said Dumbledore sitting down.
"So Harry, I sense something is yet troubling you. What is it?" said Dumbledore.
"It's just that...well the...the..."
"The prophecy," said Dumbledore.
Harry lowered his head, as if in shame, and nodded.
"Obviously you have not told anyone about it yet?"
"No," said Harry, "I'm not sure how to or even if I should."
He suddenly lowered his voice as if in shame.
"But I don't want more people dieing because of me."
"Ahh yes, I see what you mean, but I think you should tell them when you are ready."
"But how?" asked Harry.
"This might become useful," said Dumbledore, handing his a glass ball.
"Is this the prophecy?" asked Harry.
"No, just a mere replica. When you open it, it will repeat the prophecy and show whom ever it is what I showed you."
Harry opened it.
A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size, behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but in the harsh, hoarse tones Harry had heard her use once before.
"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES.... BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT... AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES.... THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...."
"But just incase it falls into the wrong hands, it says Marvelo on it, not Voldemort," said Dumbledore.
"Thank you," said Harry and flew out of his office window.
That night in the Room of Requirement (Harry was in there quite often now), Harry was up looking at his photo album, the prophecy, and wondering about the Quidditch game tomorrow. He was excited. Everyone was going to be there. The Weasleys. Wood. The whole world would probably be there because of him. Harry Potter. He just wished for once he was a normal person. He yawned and looked at the clock. 2:00 am. That was the time he saw as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
~*~
That day, classes were cancelled and the entire school was going to the stadium. Though it may have seemed that I was a happy and joyful day, it wasn't for the Gryffindor Quidditch team because their captain and seeker was missing. Ron was panicking. They were leaving in half an hour to go to the stadium and he was nowhere to be found.
"He's going crazy," whispered Penelope Johnson as Ron paced around the room muttering to himself.
"We better find Harry, and quick," said Courtney Bell as Ron leaned against the wall, going crazy.
Jus then there was a knock at the door. Three figures walked in.
"Came to wish you good luck," said Charlie Weasley.
"So where's Ron?" asked Bill.
"Over there," pointed Colin.
The three of them walked over to a mental Ron.
"He's gone, he's just gone," said Ron.
"Who's gone?" asked Charlie.
"Harry," said Ron.
"What do you mean he's gone?" said Oliver Wood.
"We can't find him anywhere. What am I going to do," said Ron helplessly.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," said Charlie and the three walked out in search of Harry.
~*Meanwhile*~
Dobby happened to be cleaning today. He was dusting a portrait when someone came up to him.
"Hello, sir. I is Dobby."
"Yes well, hello Dobby. Do you know where I might find Harry Potter?' asked Wood.
"No, Dobby has not seen Harry Potter," said Dobby and started cleaning again.
"Well, thank you anyways," sand Wood and started to walk away.
"No sir, wait!" said Dobby.
"Dobby might know where Harry Potter is," said Dobby.
"Come, Dobby show you, sir," and Dobby led him to an unknown passageway.
"Umm, Dobby, was it? Where are we going?" said Wood.
"Ok we are here sir," said Dobby.
"Ok, now what?" asked Wood.
"Now you must wish to see Harry Potter, sir, and you will find him."
"What? But..."
"I must go sir. I hopes you find Harry Potter, sir. Goodbye," and with that, Dobby scurried off leaving behind a confused and bewildered Wood.
"Ok," thought Wood, closing his eyes, "Where is that Potter?" he said.
He opened his eyes and saw nothing.
"That bloody house elf, leading me to the middle of no where," said Wood and turned around to see a door.
He walked up, and opened the door, and quickly stepped in. There he saw Harry lying on his bed next to his broomstick and many books and papers. Wood smiled.
"Now that's what I call determined," said Wood laughing which made Harry suddenly wake up.
"Wood! What are you doing here?" asked Harry.
"Why, looking for you! The entire school has gone to the stadium, Ron i downstairs biting his fingers off and you're here sleeping. Come on then, lets go. Your team needs you!"
"Oh well, WOW I didn't know I had slept that long. Lets go them," said Harry and they started down towards the locker rooms.
"Harry!" yelled Ron.
"Where'd you find him?" asked Penelope.
"Sleeping next to his broomstick," said Wood and they all laughed.
"I'm not surprised, after Umbridge banned him last year," said Ron.
"What!" yelled everyone.
"Nothing, it's a long story," said Harry.
"Well, we better get going," said Bill.
"Good luck," said Charlie, "but you still can't beat me."
"See you Potter. The whole team's out there to watch you guys. Just show my seeker your stuff," said Wood.
Ron's eyes widened.
"Yyou mean that the WHOLE Chudley Cannons team is here to watch US?" said Ron.
"Yes," said Wood.
"Ok everyone LETS GO now I need their autographs, chop chop, I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY, lets go!" yelled Ron.
"Ron calm down, we'll—
"Harry, the WHOLE TEAM is sitting there and you want me to calm down? LETS GO!!" screamed Ron.
"Ok then, see you later," said Harry and they all got ready to go.
~*~
"Ok you guys, we're gonna go out there and just play our hardest. We'll squash those Slytherins!"
"Yea!" yelled his team back.
"Welcome to the Quidditch match at the World Cup Stadium. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Would everyone please be seated. Thank you. Now lets welcome the Slytherins..."
Harry and his team were anxious as they each waited for their names to be called out.
"...and now lets welcome our Gryffindors. Our Chasers, Penelope Johnson, Courtney Bell, and Ashley Spinnet."
Clapping came from the crowd. Harry looked in search of anyone he knew and quickly pointed out the Cannon to Ron, who nearly fainted.
"...Our beaters, Colin and Dennis Creevey."
"Look, you whole family," said Harry.
"...Our keeper, Ronald Weasley."
Harry saw all of the red heads stand up as they called out Ron's name and a firework from the one and only, Fred and George.
"...And last but not least, our team captain and seeker, Harry Potter."
Harry flew out and saw in amazement. The stands were full with people. The sound deafened his ears. He was even more fireworks in the air. He flew over to his spot in front of Malfoy.
"Good luck, Potter," spat Malfory, "You're going to need it."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Malfoy."
"The balls have been released and the Golden Snitch is out."
Harry soared up and watched as his team score goal after goal. Harry nearly missed a bludger flying towards his head. He had been standing there 15 minutes. He started flying around, waiting for the snitch to show itself.
He hovered above the rest of the game, watching Ron. Just then, the quaffle came rushing toward him and he was at the other hoop.
"Come on Ron, faster," muttered Harry to himself.
He could only see Ron as blur, rushing toward the other hoop, hoping to catch the quaffle in time.
Jut then Ron did the impossible. He knew he couldn't get there in time. It was just barely there and he made a decision. He let go of his broom and leaped for the ball, his leg barely dangling off the broom. The crowd cheered and then gasped at Ron, for he caught the edge of his broomstick, determined not to fall but couldn't hold on much longer and slipped.
"RON," yelled Harry and he zoomed down in a dive toward Ron. Ron, about to hit the ground with a thud when Harry barely grabbed his arm.
"Well know that was a close one. Did you see that? That is definitely Weasley blood in him, jut like Charlie. Go Gryffind-"
"WE ARE NOT TO BE TAKING SIDE, JUST ANNOUNCING," yelled McGonagall.
"That's another 10 points for Gryffindor. They are leading the Slytherins 110-30."
Just then, Harry saw a glint of gold and dove for it. Suddenly, Malfoy was at his side and was trying to push him off of his broomstick. He reached a little closer, determined to get it before Malfoy. He ducked down just in time to see Malfoy get hit by a bludger. Now it was all his. Just as he was about to grasp it, he felt something ram the back of his head and he flew forwards off of his broom into a spin, tumbling to the ground. He heard the crowd moan before he hit the ground, lying on his stomach. He had a sharp pain in his chest. He lay there for what seemed like hours for his throbbing head until he heard faint footsteps rushing to him and turn him over. He slightly opened his eyes and saw Dumbledore.
"Harry, are you ok?"
"Where have I seen this before? Oh, right, during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Who died because of me this time?" said Harry.
Dumbledore chuckled.
"So I'm guessing you're fine? You had quite a fall there."
"My head, and chest...what happened?"
"Crabbe hit you in the head with his bat when he saw that Malfoy was down," said Dumbledore.
"Harry, can you stand?" asked Dumbledore.
He nodded and stood up. He was walking back with Dumbledore when he felt something in his shirt. He stopped and looked down to see a small bump moving. Everyone had stopped talking and was staring at him. He quickly took it out and just stood there, grasping it in his hand.
"Harry, what is it?"
Slowly, Harry held up the Snitch between his two fingers and the crowd gasped.
"It seems that Harry Potter has caught the Snitch. Gryffindor wins!"
Screams and yells once more filled the stadium. Harry grinned. His team came down and hugged him.
The Cannons were cheering in amazement. They came down to congratulate him.
"Well done Harry," said a voice.
Harry turned around to see Wood. He smiled.
"Your team is amazing," said one of the players.
"I think I'm read to quit now," said someone else.
"Yes Harry, that is my seeker."
They all laughed.
"No I'm not joking, I quit," she said and everyone became silent.
"Harry, how would you like to be one of my reserve seekers?" said Wood.
Everyone stood there in shock and waited for Harry to reply.
"Well Harry, go on," said Ron breathlessly.
"I...I..." said Harry.
"Well," said Wood.
"I don't know, I guess..."
"YES!" yelled Ron, "I mean..."
They all laughed.
"Well the Harry, here you go, give it to me when you have decided. Come on everyone, lets go," and with that they all left. They all stood there, still in shock, when the Weasleys, Hermione, and some of the Order came up to them.
"Oh Harry are you ok? And Ron! Oh my..." said Mrs. Weasley hugging them both.
"Congratulations," said Kingsley.
"My Harry, you looked like James out there," said Remus.
"Not bad Potter, you too Weasley," said Moody.
"Yea Ron, we didn't know you were that good," said Charlie.
"Yea, not too bad bro," said Fred and George.
No one responded, they all just stood there. They all had puzzled and worried looks on their faces.
"Oh my, Ron what's wrong?" asked Bill.
"Harry, what's wrong," said Hermione.
"Harry," said Remus shaking him.
"What is it?"
"Wood, he...he..."stuttered Harry.
"What?" asked Kingsley.
"He asked me to be his seeker and play for the Cannons," said Harry, still dumbfounded, holding up the parchment for them to see.
They stood in silence for a moment.
"Well congratulations Harry, I'm so proud of you!" said Mrs. Weasley hugging him.
Everyone else congratulated him and they went to the locker rooms to change and go back.
After everyone had left, Harry and Ron sat there, still bewildered.
"So, you're actually going to do it?" asked Ron.
"Yea but," said Harry.
"I get to come to all of your games though right?' said Ron smiling.
"Of course," and they sat there in silence, dreaming about the wonders of Quidditch.
~*~
The next day was their trip to Hogsmeade. Harry didn't want to go but Hermione and Ron made him. As he was waiting for the other two to get ready, he took some time to rest and think. He was very tired but also had a lot to think about. Playing Quidditch. Should he do it? He was excited but he had other tings to worry about. One thing in particular. Voldemort. Which led his to another one of his many problems. The prophecy. When was he going to tell someone? Surely Dumbledore hadn't told anyone. But he didn't know how. He took out Dumbledore's version of the prophecy and studied it. So this is basically what had killed his parents. A stupid, old ball. Anger rose inside of him. He wanted to smash it to pieces, but knew it could bring nothing back. Not any of the deaths he caused. Or any of the pain.
He had always thought of just leaving, but where to go? He had nowhere to go, no family. He never had anywhere to go, any purpose of life. So why him? All of these things boggled his mind as he sat in the common room waiting for Ron and Hermione. He decided while at Hogsmeade, he would give Wood a visit. He picked up the parchment and his broom and hid them under his invisibility cloak, waiting for his friends. Finally, the two came down and they were off to Hogsmeade.
Though Harry went with them, it was all a blur to him because he was thinking too much. When they got back, Harry made up some excuse about finishing his essay in the library and went off to look in the pensieve. Harry went over to the pensieve and looked in.
Both Lily and Sirius sat there in complete shock. Lily's tears were already running down her face, and Sirius had his hands over his mouth in awe. "I-I can't believe it! Why? I mean...why???? Wh-why would he do such a thing!? Why!?" Lily hyperventilated in complete frustration. "There's no word to describe him...or what he's doing!" "That's because he takes pleasure in ruining innocent lives," Sirius said angrily. Lily sat there, mangling her hands and gripping on to the upholstery for dear life, making her knuckles as white as a ghosts. "This is absolutely terrible!" Sirius sighed, and sunk down into the couch depressingly. "I know...I know." "What are we watching? I mean, what channel is this?" she asked disturbingly. Sirius looked at her strangely. "Why does it matter?" "I want to know what other channels are saying about this," Lily said with a heavy sigh and a shrug. "It's Channel 406. But it doesn't really matter because it's on every wizardry channel." Lily sighed. "This can't be happening! This...This sucks! It's the worst timing, too! My birthday is this weekend!! This weekend is supposed to be the last time I'll get to hang out with you and all of my friends! And to top it all off, I'm supposed to be starting my job next week!!!! Why did this have to happen now!?" Lily sobbed. "I know I should be a little less selfish, but it's hard when I find out this son-of-a-bitch is ruining everything! Sirius walked over to her and gave her a hug. "Shhh, Lily. It's going to be okay. Shhh, you're going to be fine." Lily sobbed into his chest. "What if they got James?? I'll have no way of knowing, if I can't write him or see him or talk to him!" Sirius turned back towards the television. "Watch the screen. Maybe You-Know-Who didn't hit James' school." Lily turned her head back to the television as a bunch of colleges were listed. "Scandinavia Priddetin Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry Lebanon Academy for the Special Arts and Dark Arts Freragon Elementary for History of Magic Lebanon University for Witchcraft and Wizardry Luxembourgoise College for Dark Art Wizardry Badigeonnage Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry Beauxbatons École pour Sorcellerie et Sorcier Genése Université pour les Histoire des Arts Petite Lyceé pour Sorcellerie et Sorcier Durmstrang Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry Turkoff University of Fine Arts Klemmington College of Witchcraft and Wizardry Graham Arts University of Witches Dolly Juniper University for Witchcraft and Wizardry Dark Art Academy of England Artemis Leonard Ministry of Magic Academy Tatty Cathy Veranda University of Witchcraft and Wizardry Dark Art University of the British Kingdom London Arts University of Witchcraft and Wizardry Marmalades Academy for Wizards-" "Holy fuck," Sirius whispered as he watched the school that he worked at go by on the screen. Lily groaned as she squeezed Sirius' shoulder. The school that Sirius worked at wasn't widely known and she knew now that if Voldemort attacked his school that James' school must have been attacked, but she tried being hopeful. "British Kingdom College for Dark Art Magic Queen Elizabeth Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry King Louis Elementary for Dark Art Magic Dollywood University of Auror Ministry London University for Dark Art Magic-" "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lily screamed as she saw James' school pass them by on the screen. "Oh, no," Sirius grumbled, as he wrapped his arms around Lily's neck as she fell into his arms and sobbed into his chest for the next five minutes as about another hundred schools went by. By this time, Lily was in tears and even Sirius had tears brimming in his eyelids. The tears were all mostly about James, but also about the three hundred people who had died due to an innocent act of playful magic from Voldemort. They didn't say anything to each other until Sirius saw another dreaded school he hadn't thought about until it was being put up on the screen. "Montreal Arts University for Witchcraft and Wizardry -" "NOOOOOO!" Sirius cried slamming his hand against the wall and making the paintings shake. "What, what?" Lily cried, still weeping. "Vannie," he whispered, letting the tears fall even more down his face as he wept for his girlfriend, praying that she was still alive somewhere. "Screw Voldemort. He's a worthless, no-good, low-life bastard who deserves to be shot twice," Lily cursed. Sirius looked down at her. "Wow, Lily. I've never heard you speak like that." Lily cracked a smile. "Yeah, well once someone messes with my boyfriend and my best friend he becomes top priority on my bitching out list." Sirius gave her a weak smile before thinking of Savannah again just as Lily sat and thought about James. Lily stared at the television motionless. It just wasn't fair. She had no idea where he was, who he was with, what he was doing, when his school was hit, how he was doing...it was just a jumble right now. But it was the worst feeling ever...and there was nothing she could do about it. *~*~*~*~* Considering they weren't allowed to go anywhere, Sirius and Lily often sat around their living room watching the television minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day together wrapped up in each other's arms having nothing but each other's security and calmness to make sure neither one of them would go crazy or into hysterics. By Thursday morning there was no sign of a let up of the lock-down and Sirius and Lily had walked out of the house twice. Once to walk into town to the grocery store, which they found was closed. Actually, all of the stores were closed and there was no sign of life on their main street. The second time was when all of the neighbors had met in front of a house to talk things over and Sirius and Lily stepped out to see what was going on. Eventually, Sirius and Lily invited them all in to sit around and watch their television and just talk about everything that has been happening. On Thursday night, June Yingling, Paul Yingling, Tessa Yingling, Karolyna Gertrude, Reese Gertrude, Zach Ryanson, Kailynn Suaven, Devon Suaven, Isabella Suaven, Daniella Suaven, Steve Suaven, Jillie Verne, Luke Wingo, Henry Wingo, Stephanie Wingo, and Rain Hunter were all sitting in Sirius' and Lily's living room. June, Kailynn, Devon and Isabella were all younger than eleven. Paul, Tessa, Zach, Daniella, Steve, Henry, Stephanie, and Rain were all thirty-five years old or older. Karolyna, Reese, Luke, Jillie were about the same age as Lily and Sirius. "I don't know what to do. I mean, in reality, I can't do anything," Tessa Yingling was complaining about her son at a Canadian college. "My son is off at college that was unfortunately attacked yesterday morning and I don't know if he's okay or not. Shouldn't a mother have a right to know whether or not her family is alive??" "I want to tell you that I'm sure David is fine, but unfortunately I don't even know if my Yvette and Zara are okay and before I know they're okay, I'm not certain of anything," Rain said, talking about her nineteen-year-old twin girls both in Scandinavian colleges. "None of us are certain of anything," Lily pointed out. "Or at least I'm not certain of anything. I mean as much fun as sitting here talking with my neighbors is, I'd much rather be out there getting information about this damn tragedy and how my friends are doing!" "A friend of ours was supposed to be arriving here yesterday from a Canadian college and now because of this pathetic lock-down, we have no idea how to reach her," Sirius explained. "I was so excited to finally see my cousins this weekend and now they obviously can't come," Isabella remarked, who was seven-years-old. Steve smiled and patted his daughter on the arm. "Yeah, and I just wish I could contact Hanna at Hogwarts. And even though Hogwarts is the safest school especially with Dumbledore and I trust him and his school and his protection and I know Voldemort would never bother even touching that school, I just wish I could owl her and tell her that the family is okay. Unfortunately, I can't do that." "None of us can," Jillie said with a sigh, thinking about Davie, her fiancé who was in Australia at the moment studying to go into the medical business, and he was a muggle but he already knew about Jillie being a witch. They all sat in silence for a few seconds before Kailynn, a six- year-old interrupted. "Mom, when are we going to the toy store? You said you'd bring me if I finished my book and I finished last night," she said. Daniella smiled at her blonde, curly-haired daughter. "Honey, remember I told you last night that we can't go anywhere because a very bad magical man is unfortunately keeping us at home." "Oh," Kailynn responded. "Then can we go next week?" "Maybe," Daniella answered, picking her up and putting Kailynn on her lap. Lily watched Daniella with Kailynn and realized that she that there were thousands of people who were probably worse off than her. She was lucky to be with Sirius, one of her best friends, at this time of need. There were thousands of little kids probably whining and crying about being stuck in the house the whole time. There were thousands of little babies who were hard to handle in a time like this. Then there were the families who had no idea where their children were and if they were okay or not. Then there were people like her who had loved ones missing. Sirius glanced over at Lily, who was biting her lip and obviously thinking about something depressing, most likely James. Sirius sighed and patted Lily's arm to show his support and concern. 'It's gonna be okay,' Sirius mouthed to her, and Lily couldn't help but give him a tiny sideways grin. Luckily, Lily had a friend who was keeping her levelheaded. *~*~*~*~* Friday night into Saturday morning, Lily couldn't sleep a wink. Savannah was already supposed to be there and Remus and James were supposed to be arriving early Saturday morning and Peter, Allie, and Kaitlynne were supposed to be arriving Saturday night. She just wanted a good birthday this year, especially since it was supposedly her last in England and instead it was ruined by Voldemort's idea of fun. Lily knew that she wouldn't be able to see any of them before she left for California...whenever that was going to be. She tried to keep the thought of James or Savannah...not alive out of her mind and focused on them being safe and sound surrounded by their friends at college. "SURPRISE!" someone cried early Saturday morning. "AGH!" Lily cried, practically leaping out of bed. "SIRIUS! What are you doing in my room at six-thirty in the morning!?" "You were born at six twenty-eight in the morning of this day. Happy birthday, Lily," Sirius said with breakfast...or what looked like breakfast on a tray. Lily grinned wide. "Oh, my God, Sirius! That has got to be the sweetest thing that you've ever done for me!" Sirius grinned. "Don't get used to it," he joked. "I wanted to give you a happy birthday when it seems as if I'll be the only one here on it this year. I wanted it to be special." "Awww, Sirius," she cooed. "Thank you so much," she said, walking over to him to give him a hug. "Oh, jeez. Did you actually cook breakfast?" "Uh...I tried? Okay, okay, so it may have been better with some magic. Unfortunately, I can't do that!!!" he cried laughing. "Are you actually going to make me eat that?" "What? Don't you like it?" "No!" she cried and they both laughed. "But just for you, I'll eat it anyway." "YAY!" he cried laughing, and leaving the room. "Thanks again!" she cried, as he walked out of the room. "AND THE KITCHEN BETTER BE CLEAN WHEN I GET DOWN THERE!!" Sirius popped his head back in. "Could you give me a...uh...two- hour headstart before you come down?" he asked with an innocent face on. He hesitated before continuing. "No, better yet a two-year headstart?" Lily laughed. "Just go," she said with a laugh. *~*~*~*~* About twenty minutes later, she trudged down the stairs to find Sirius in front of the television without the kitchen cleaned. "Sirius, how is that clean?" she asked pointing to the messy kitchen. "SHHHH!" he said waving her to be quiet. "What?" she said, walking over to the television. "They think that Voldemort has backed off and gone back towards Antarctica." "What?" "It's where he was before all of this, planning it all out," Sirius explained. "Oh. Does that mean the lock-down is over?" "No, not yet. He hasn't struck anywhere in over eleven hours, which may mean he's either finally retreated or it's all part of his damn plan. No one can be sure and they're not calling off the lock-down yet. They haven't found him yet so they're not sure about anything. Two death- eaters were found, but they refused to give any information so an Auror killed them right there on the spot instead of bringing them to Azkaban. But that Auror was fired soon after for being irresponsible. Heck, I would've killed him too!" Lily sighed. "This sucks, Sirius. This is the worst birthday ever. Voldemort is keeping everyone in their damn houses by killing off innocent people just because he thinks it's fun, I don't know what's going to happen with me job, and to top it all off, I don't even know if my boyfriend and my best friend are okay!" "But the breakfast made up for some of that, right?" Sirius asked, patting her arm. Lily laughed. "Of course, Si." "I'm sorry, Lily-bean. I-" "What did you call me?" Lily asked curiously. "Er...Lily-bean?" Lily looked at him adoringly and embraced him unexpectedly. "You haven't called me that in nearly five years." Sirius blushed, but smiled at her. "I know...but it just fits today." Lily nodded. "I know," she said thankfully. "What were you saying?" Sirius hesitated, and then sighed before continuing. "I really don't know what else to say at the moment. It's hard to say much of anything. I just wish that there could be some good news soon. I just don't know when that will happen." "Don't be sorry, Sirius," she started, taking a seat next to him on the couch, as Sirius stroked her back soothingly. "It's not your fault that this whole damn thing is happening. I just wish that I could do something to help anyone, but I'm stuck here for God-knows-how-long." "I feel the same way, Lily," Sirius said with a long, drawled- out sigh. "Believe me...I feel the same way." *~*~*~*~* For the rest of the day, Lily and Sirius sat on the couch together under a blanket just watching the news, watching movies, playing board games, playing card games, talking, and surprisingly having fun. Even though it wasn't the perfect birthday that Lily had planned, it wasn't a terrible one like she thought it would be. "Sirius?" Lily asked from the living room to Sirius who has been in the kitchen for the past forty minutes. "What are you doing in there!?" "Nothing! Don't come in!" he cried laughing. She sighed and turned back to the Channel 406 news. Unfortunately, the suspicion of Voldemort backing off was not correct and he had hit fourteen schools in Vienna, Austria and Juniper, Austria that afternoon in just forty minutes. Unfortunately, Voldemort had also been seen wandering from town to town killing off certain people in the streets, as well, mostly in Austria, and was now heading back to London. The tragedy is just getting worse and the lock-down looked as if it wasn't going to be let up anytime soon. "Sirius, he's back in London!" Lily cried with a worried face as she repeated what the news reporter was telling her. "Calm down, Lily!! Stop worrying for now and come in here!" Lily sighed and turned off the television and walked into the kitchen. "Surprise!" Sirius cried. Lily gasped. In front of her was a table with two glowing candles and two china plates, a bottle of champagne, and tiny wrapped box sitting next to her empty plate. "Well, well, well. If you weren't Sirius Black, then I might actually think that you could be romantic!" He laughed. "I know I'm not James or anything and it's not the perfect, romantic, birthday dinner you were planning on having with James and today's not the perfect day that you wanted for your birthday, but you deserve a very happy birthday, Lily," he explained. "You don't turn twenty- two every year." Tears sprang to her eyes with happiness. She did not expect anything from Sirius that night except a birthday hug or whatnot. And he was right, it wasn't the perfect, romantic birthday dinner with James...it was the perfect birthday dinner with Sirius. "Awww...Sirius, you may not be James, but you're doing a very good job of making this a happy birthday," she said, walking over to him to give him a hug. He kissed her on the cheek, and pulled out her seat for her. "Thanks for accompanying me on this wonderful evening, m'lady," he said laughing. "Okay, now please tell me you didn't cook dinner!" Lily said with a grin. "No, you got lucky tonight," he said, laughing. "Although, it's not going to be a...romantic dinner or anything either." "What's for dinner?" she asked curiously. "Uh...pizza?" he said, pulling out the boxes that were underneath the table. Lily burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "Oh....my...God..." she said, in between laughs. "Sirius, you're the best roommate a girl could ever ask for!" she cried out, grabbing a piece of pizza. "Now sit down and eat," she said grinning. "Well, I can't resist an order." "No you just can't resist food," Lily said laughing. "How about you just open my gift?" Sirius suggested, changing the subject. "Actually, it's mine and Vannie's gift, but I don't care if she didn't want you to open it without her here. Because it's your birthday and you should get at least one gift today." "Sounds good to me," she said laughing. She picked up the tiny box and took off the ribbon and the bow. She unwrapped the sparkling silver paper, and finally opened the box. Inside was a white-silver necklace with a lily in the center. She gasped. "Oh, Sirius!" He grinned. "I saw you looking at it in the jewelry store in Hogsmeade last month and I knew it would be perfect. Savannah and I both agreed on buying it and we bought it together when she was here over Easter break." "Oh, Sirius, this is so beautiful! I...I don't really know what to say except thank you so much and I can't thank you enough." "There's more to it, though," he said slowly. "Oh? What do you mean?" "Whenever a loved one is in danger and is crying for your help, the lily glows a yellowish-orangish color to warn you." "What do you mean by loved one? Friends, family, husband or wife, or just...boyfriend? " she asked, specifically speaking about James. "Well...mostly family, or husband or whatnot, but it only glows when your boyfriend is in trouble if you really love him and you would go for the end of the earth for him...at least that's what the jeweler told me. I figured it would be perfect for you and James." Lily grinned up at him. "It is. Thank you again and-"she said, wrapping it around her neck, but she was too busy looking at the necklace to finish her sentence. Sirius noticed it also. "Oh no," he muttered as they both watched it start to glow. Lily looked up at Sirius with fear and panic in her eyes and started breathing heavily. "Oh, my, God. I don't like this at all, Sirius." "I bet James is just out there slamming his fist into the wall wanting to send you a goddamn letter or call you or something." "That's not danger." "Yeah, but it's extreme love...and that's danger enough," Sirius teased, laughing. Lily cracked a smile. "You were always the one who made everyone laugh, Sirius." "I know," he replied, and they both laughed, trying to get their minds off the necklace. *~*~*~*~* Two days later, Lily was freaking out. The necklace was still glowing and she wasn't sure of what to do about her job in America. At about one o'clock in the afternoon, Sirius noticed that the necklace stopped glowing and was about to say something, but the phone rang. Sirius and Lily looked up at each other in confusion. They both knew that the only people who could reach them were the ministry or a muggle. Now, considering neither one of them really knew any Muggles, besides Petunia who Lily doubted was calling her, they both were thinking the same thing: that maybe the ministry was calling them to give them bad news. "Oh, shit," Sirius muttered. Lily drew in a breath, before picking up the receiver. "Hello?" she said softly. "Lily!? IS THAT YOU!?" the person on the other end shrieked, obviously with happiness. "Uh...yeah. Who is this?" she asked calmly. "It's me, Savannah!!" she cried. "WHAT!?" she screamed, which was definitely freaking Sirius out who had no idea who she was talking to. "Aren't you listening to the radio or watching the television?? The lock-down is over!" Lily shrieked with happiness and started jumping up and down, yet again freaking Sirius out...but in a good way. "Are you fuckin' kidding me!?" Savannah laughed at what Lily said just as Sirius literally ran over to her and pulled on the cord of Lily's telephone like a five-year- old. "Not at all!" Savannah cried. "The ministry and the Aurors at Sir Sephilia's office and Sir Friedburgh's office, in Scandinavia, tracked down you-Know-Who in Egypt today and sent him crawling back to Antarctica. Unfortunately when they went to go look for him, he wasn't there and instead they realized he had drifted back to somewhere in Russia where he'll remain until he can get his strength back which will probably won't be for another ten years or so. He's practically powerless and has disappeared!" "I-I can't believe it. This is totally amazing! I was waiting for this moment this whole damn week!" Lily cried. Sirius was giving her weird looks, wondering why she was so ecstatic, but Lily waved him off. "I know!!! I immediately picked up the phone once I heard to see if they were working, and sure enough the lock-down is officially over!! I just wanted to call you guys to make sure you guys were okay and to tell you that...well, I'm fine." "Are you positive? I heard you're school was on his list." Sirius was obviously about to kill himself with suspension, but Lily turned around while chuckling at him. There was a long pause on Savannah's side of the phone and Lily was about to ask her if she was still there, but Savannah finally spoke. "We were hit." "Oh, no. What happened?" Lily asked, before mentally hitting herself. "No, that was a dumb question." "No, it's okay," Savannah said sighing. "It just all seems...well, unreal to me. I still can't believe he was just here last week. In fact...well, my roommate here was a victim and if I wasn't at lunch at the time, I would've been a victim too. It scares me, Lily. But what scares me most is that I saw him. I saw him killing people that I knew! People that I had just talked to moments before. People that were my best friends there!! My choral director—the best damn professor I've ever had—had died right in front of my own eyes. I watched him suffer and knowing that I couldn't do anything to help him or anyone else freaks me out even more. It all completely freaked me out, Lily, and if I wasn't able to sneak out the back door and into the parking lot where I hid underneath cars with hundreds of other students and staff, I could've died, also. It just scares me that I was so close to dying." "Oh, don't say that. It doesn't matter because you're fine. And...I'm sorry. I-I don't really know what else to say because I wasn't there, but it must have been terrible. I can't tell you how it feels, but I'm just glad you weren't one of his victims," Lily soothed. "Who's on the phone?" Sirius whispered, but Lily shooed him away. "I know...so am I. Well, listen, I've got to go. They're having an assembly in two minutes and I've got to be there. I wish I could talk more, but if I'm late, then I won't get my degree until the summer, and I do not feel like spending my time here." "I understand," Lily said with a sigh of relief. "God, I wish I could talk to SI-Si now, but I really can't. Tell Si-Si I miss him and that I wish I could talk to him now but I'll call back later tonight. I love you, Lily! Bye for now!" "Bye, hon. I'll talk to you later." Lily put back the receiver in its cradle and leaned against the wall and slouched down to the floor, trying to hide her ecstaticness. "Oh, wow." "Okay, who was that?" Sirius demanded to know, slouching against the kitchen floor next to her. "You will never believe who that was. You'll never guess who had just called me," Lily said amazingly still in non-belief. "Big Bird!" he cried cracking a smile. "Someone a thousand times better than Big Bird." "Oscar the grouch?" Lily laughed. "No, you dolt! Even better." "Okay, now I know that's not possible." Lily laughed. "What about Savannah? Is she any better than Oscar?" "VANNIE!?!?!" Sirius screamed. "Yeah...I guess she's a little better than Oscar." Lily laughed as Sirius continued. "Wait...how did she call??" "The lock-down is over," Lily started, as she began the whole story of the lock-down being over and what Savannah said about her school and the deaths there. "And she says she misses you and she'll call you later." "Oh, wow. I can't believe it's finally over. I thought it would be a lot longer than this. I'm just glad the ministry could've stopped him," Sirius said, suddenly freezing in place. "Uh-oh," he muttered. "Uh-oh what? What happened?" Lily asked with worry. "Um...you said that the Aurors at Sir Sephilia's office were tracking Voldemort down, right?" "Yeah...so?" Sirius sighed again. "Oh, no." "'Oh, no' what?" Lily asked curiously. "Uh..." "Sirius Black, you better tell me what's wrong this instant or I might have to hurt you." Sirius sighed. "I don't think he ever told you this—probably just forgot or something—but...uh...well, James got the job working in his office." Lily sat there gaping at Sirius as the breath was suddenly sucked out of her. She sat there breathing heavily as the tears started filling up her eyelids. "Oh, God." "I'm sure he's fine. Since he's just a beginner there, maybe he didn't even go with them. He's just begun his training." But Lily wasn't thinking about that. She was thinking about the necklace. "Sirius, when the lily stops glowing, what do you think that means?" Sirius had to stop and think about what she was saying at the moment, confused of why she changed the subject. "Um...he's no longer in danger of course." Lily nodded. "But...but what if it means something else...something worse?" "Like what? And please to God don't say death, Lily Marie Evans. You and I both know that James is too damn strong and brave to have been killed by Voldemort in his first month of working with the Auror business." Lily nodded. "You're right, Sirius. I'm...I'm just being paranoid," she explained, but unfortunately she couldn't help but be paranoid. She knew Sirius was just trying to comfort her, but a voice in the back of her mind was still telling her that James could still be out there...needing her right at the moment. Three hours later, they still hadn't heard from James...or Remus, Kaitlynne, Allie, or Peter at that matter. And unfortunately, Lily could not worry about them anymore, because she was going through with the move to California. She didn't want to move to America at the moment, but Douglas Cowing had called her later that afternoon to explain the situation and he ended up making a decision that because the lock-down had substantially been officially over for four hours, that the move and the job shall still proceed because the flight was nonrefundable...besides, he claimed, Lily wouldn't even have to start her job until Wednesday. Lily sat on the floor with a picture of her and James in one hand and a picture of Hogwarts graduation with all eight of them packed together tightly to fit in the picture. Lily sighed, not realizing Sirius was standing behind her as a tear fell down her cheeks and onto the picture of her and James. "Lily," he said again this time putting his hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little and wiped away the tears quickly. "Oh, hey Sirius." Sirius sighed. "Lily, everything's going to be okay. I'm sure that James is fine and that he's just busy with all of the finishing touches he has to do with the whole Auror business." "I'm not worried about that as much as I am about moving," Lily confessed. "What do you mean?" "It's just that...well, once I move, I realize that everything is going to be exactly how it was the past week. And I'm afraid that it's just going to bring us all farther apart." "That's not going to happen unless you want it to happen, Lils." "How do you know?" "Because I'm not going to let it happen." Lily smiled and put the two picture frames on top of her other things in her suitcase. "Okay, fine. Let's just get this over with." Sirius laughed. "Are you all packed?" "I think so," she said, scanning the room. "No, wait." "What?" "Can I pack you with me?" Sirius laughed. "No, I'm afraid not." "Then, yeah, I'm all packed," she said, sighing. Time, sometimes the time just slips away And you're left with yesterday Left with memories I'll always think of you and smile And be happy for the time I had you with me Though we go our separate ways I won't forget so don't forget the memories we made Sirius gave her a reassuring smile and gave her a short, but sweet, hug. "Lily, you're going to be an amazing publisher and you're going to have a great time in California. Don't worry about anything else but that, okay?" "But-" "No, no buts." "But-" "Okay, you obviously aren't listening to me." "However-" "Hey! That's just a fancy but!" "Sirius-" "Okay, I know you're just going to try to make a point, but don't." Lily sighed. "Fine." "HEY!!!" "What?" she cried alarmed. "I don't know, I just felt like yelling." Lily laughed. "Sirius, I'm never going to find anyone else in America who can make me laugh as much as you can." "Okay, don't you know yet that there is no one in the whole world who is funnier than me?" "Just funny? Or funny-looking?" "Things are going to be so different without you around," Sirius confessed. "A.k.a. no dinner?" Sirius laughed. "I'm being serious, Lily." She gasped. "Oh no!! Alert the media!!!" Sirius gave her an exasperated look. Lily felt a bit guilty. "I'm sorry. I-I just don't want to think about it." "I know but I'm really going to miss you, Lily." "I'm going to miss you more," she teased. "You can't forget me, either," he warned. "I'd never forget you," Lily replied. "You were the best roommate a girl could ask for." Sirius blushed. "Thanks." Please remember, please remember I was there for you And you were there for me Please remember, our time together The time was yours and mine While we were wild and free "You always have to remember me, Sirius. And not just me as a roommate, but me as a person. I know we'll see each other, but it won't be the same. I won't be coming home to a place where I know I can count on cracking a smile. I won't be coming home to a place where I know will still be dirty unless you became so incredibly bored that you decided to dust the furniture...which happened once in a full moon. Thanks Sirius...for everything," she whispered. "No, thank you for making me who I am today. If you weren't my roommate, I'd be a totally different person. Thanks," Sirius whispered again, giving her a small, gentle hug, trying not to let the tears gathering up in the back of his eyes be noticed. Lily squeezed him tighter as a tiny tear fell down her cheek helplessly. Sirius smiled at her, and swiped his eyes lightly "C'mon, we need to go, or else you're going to be late." "I'll be right down, Si," Lily said taking another glance around the room as Sirius grabbed two of her suitcases and started to bring them downstairs. Lily sat down in the empty room looking at her bed that was just a mattress at the moment, up to her desk that was a just a piece of wood with a chair in front of it towards her two wooden dressers that were completely cleared off and empty and her closet which was just two white doors, one half-open to reveal nothing but dust. Good-bye, there's just no sadder word to say And it's sad to walk away With just memories Who's to know what might have been We'll leave behind a life and time I'll never know again She tried not to make leaving a big deal, but she couldn't help but sniffle and cry a little. I mean, her bedroom has been her home for the past three years. The room gave her many memories that she'll never forget. The room was there when she needed to be alone. The room was there when she needed a quiet place to read and rest. The room was there when she needed a cozy place to bring her friends. The room was there when she and James, or she and Savannah, or she and Remus, or she and Sirius needed some privacy away from the rest of the world. The room was there when she needed to get the anger off of her chest. The room was there when she needed comfort. The room was there when she simply needed a place where she could cry her eyes out until she thought that there were no more tears inside of her. The room was where she belonged. And then there was her house that belonged to her and Sirius for the last three years. The house that was now just Sirius' and the house that she'd be leaving for God-knows-how-long. The house where she could truly call home...up until now. She descended down the stairs with her last suitcases and two big bags full of her stuff in her hands and her purse slung over her arm as she simply took one good look around, making it seem as if she'd never return again, even though she knew she'd be returning to celebrate Kaitlynne's birthday on August 3, and maybe even for a visit beforehand if she wasn't too busy. And how we laugh and how we smile And how this friendship was yours and mine And how a dream was out of reach I stood by you, you stood by me We took each day and made it shine We wrote our names across the sky We ride so fast, we ride so free And I knew that you cared for me She walked towards the door where Sirius stood with a supportive smile on his face, taking the suitcase under his arms and one of the bags in his other arm as Lily turned around to face the house for one last look until next time. She felt Sirius' hand on her neck, soothing her, but it just made her want to cry even more. She sighed for the millionth time that evening and threw the last bag into the car. She just wish that she could have apparated to California or gone by broomstick to make it quicker and to help ease the pain, but unfortunately she had too many bags and the arrangements were already made at the airport. Lily was about to climb into the car when both she and Sirius heard the telephone ring. They looked at each other and Lily cried, "We have to get that!" "But what if you miss your flight? You-" "I DON'T CARE! I'M ANSWERING THE DAMN PHONE!" Lily cried laughing as she dropped her purse, screaming "Alohomora!" towards the house lock, and scrambled for the kitchen telephone, completely out of breath. "Uh...hello?" "Bonjour? Mademoiselle Mona? Comment ca va!? C'est moi, Monsieur Gaston! Sont-elle-" Lily sighed as more tears sprang to her eyes. "I don't speak French!!" she said crossly. "You've got the wrong damn number," she cried, yelling at the person on the other line slamming down the receiver, when she knew it wasn't fair. She was just angry that it wasn't James, Remus, Kaitlynne, Allie, or Peter. "A little harsh, don't you think?" Sirius asked with a grin. "Easy for you to say. Your girlfriend already called," Lily said, not trying to sound so mean, slumping down towards the floor. "Lily, I-" "Let's just go," Lily said, standing up and walking out towards the car. Sirius waited and watched her go out and sit in the car staring at the street the whole time before he walked out and got into the driver's side. But he didn't put the keys in. He turned towards Lily, who turned away and looked back at the house. "Lily, please just-" "Sirius, I just..." she started full of sorrow. She sighed before continuing. "I just don't want to think about it." "Think about what?" "I don't want to think about James or America or my job or You- Know-Who or the lock-down or whatnot. I just want a nice, peaceful drive to the airport as if I was going on vacation or something. I'm just tired of everyone being sympathetic or unhappy or angry around here. I don't want that and I sure don't need it. Please, Sirius, just drive." Sirius hesitated before nodding and granting her wish. He put the keys in the ignition and started out of the driveway. "Good-bye Alphamstone," she whispered so Sirius couldn't hear her. "Good-bye...home." And even though she tried to get him out of her head, James was the only thing she cared about right at that moment. Halfway 'round the world Doesn't stop me from loving you Halfway 'round the world Can't keep me from feeling the way I do I want to hold you baby 'Cuz I'm gonna miss you like crazy Even if I'm halfway 'round the world *~*~*~*~* "Um...do I know you?" Andy said, answering the door Tuesday night to a stranger. "Um...does Lily Evans live here?" Andy nodded. "Yeah, she lives here. And who are you?" "I'm Remus. I-" "Remus!!" Lily cried, coming to the door to give her visitor a hug. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so glad to see you!" Remus grinned, and embraced her tightly. "I know. I'm really glad to see you, too, Lily. It feels like it has been forever." Lily nodded. "I know." "Happy Birthday, by the way." "Aww, thanks," Lily said, giving a quick kiss on the cheeks. "So, how'd you find me here!?" Remus laughed. "Kaitlynne told me." "What? Kaitlynne?" "Yeah. She and I were stuck together during the lock-down." "What?? Why were you two together?" Lily asked suspiciously. He laughed. "I was at her hotel last week after finishing an early lunch with her when we heard the news." "Why didn't you call us yesterday!?" "Because I went back to my place to see if Peter was there, which he wasn't, so we went to Allie's for a little while...and we ended up staying the night," he said sighing. "You don't sound so happy about that." "I'm not," he said sadly. "Oh, no. What happened?" "Josh." Lily gasped. "What happened!?!?" "We don't know. He goes to London Arts University of Witchcraft and Wizardry which was unfortunately struck by You-Know-Who and Allie hasn't heard anything from him since the lock-down." "Oh, no," Lily said full of desperation. "Is she okay?" "Not really." "I wish I could do something..." "But your job starts tomorrow, right?" "Yeah," she said glumly. "It's alright. I just wanted to tell you. If you can, try to get to Allie's on the weekend or something if we haven't heard from him. She'd appreciate all the support she can get and I'll keep in touch." "What else have you heard?" "Well, actually Minnie Juniper, remember her?" "Yeah," Lily said. "Uh-oh. What happened with her?" Remus chuckled. "Nothing yet, but she goes to the same school as Josh." "Oh, no." "Yeah, I think Kaitlynne or Allie are going to try to get in touch with Daniel and see what's going on with that." "Okay." "Yeah, so that's all I know." Lily nodded again. "Hold on...why'd you come here, though? Why not Alphamstone?" "I did at first and I thought you'd still be there, but when I went looking for you and Sirius this afternoon, I found an empty house...literally. Sirius wasn't there and neither was any of your stuff. So I figured you'd be here. And Kaitlynne gave me this address last week so I decided to come here instead." Lily nodded. "What about Sirius? Where was he?" Remus laughed. "Funny story actually. I went back to my apartment to see if Peter was back yet and there he was...with Sirius. So, actually I had a chance to ask him if you were here. And that all happened about thirty minutes ago before I apparated here." Lily nodded again, understanding it all...except for one thing. "Um...have you heard from..." but she stopped due to the lump in her throat. "James?" he asked, and Lily nodded with agreement. "No," Remus sighed. "No one has but I'm betting he's still at the Auror office, straightening everything out and making sure You-Know-Who isn't coming back for any reason." Lily sighed, figuring that was the answer she was going to get. "Okay." "Don't worry about it, Lils. I actually have to leave in five minutes, but I came here to drop off your birthday gift," he said with a wink, giving her a wrapped present, which happened to be a pair of emerald green dress robes that she had wanted for a long time. "Awww, thanks Remus. They're beautiful. And maybe I'll see you over the weekend if I have time to get out to England." Remus smiled. "I'll keep in touch," he said, before apparating back to England. "Was that a friend?" Andy asked, coming up behind her, making her jump a little. Lily laughed. "Yeah. He just came by to talk to me about the lock-down, which I'm sure you heard of." "Oh, definitely. I get a few wizardry channels here and a bunch of my friends are wizards," he explained. "And it did not look good. I hope everyone that you know is okay." Lily just nodded, not sure as to what to say at this point. Oh, well my boyfriend could be dead somewhere and this guy that used to be my enemy but is now my friend's husband could be dead and this snobby, know- it-all prick could be dead as well. Oh, and there's nothing I can do about any of that, but you know, everything's great!! So Lily just said nothing. *~*~*~*~* The next few days were hectic for Lily, but at the same time they were great. She started her job early the next morning, still preoccupied with thoughts of James, but when she walked into the Random House for Wizardry building, she immediately forgot everything else except for publishing. She couldn't wait to get started, and after being showed around and after meeting her boss and her fellow workers and after being told what to do, she started doing small odd jobs for Dr. Rhonda Fleischer, her boss. The whole week was fun and she immediately fell in love with her job and with her co-workers. Unfortunately, the nights were a different story. Angel, I can feel it's not you Angel, I wish it were not true And as I walk to the beat of my heart inside I feel like letting go Oh darling, in my dream, you'll be tonight Every night she'd go to bed hoping that a letter would appear for her or a phone call would be made just so she could know that James was okay...unfortunately, for the next five days, it was exactly the opposite. Everything was quiet and none of her friends had heard anything about him. She would take a last glance at the picture beside her bed of him before turning off the light and would cry herself to sleep every night holding on to the necklace Sirius and Savannah gave her. Oh Mr. Postman Give me a sign Tell me you've a letter, to make me feel fine Oh don't you know I am waiting here for you Tell me it will be here tonight On very early Sunday morning, May 30, two days before Lily and James' one-year anniversary, she had received a phone call from Sirius at two in the morning. It disturbed and woke up both her and Andy, but she knew it wasn't good if Sirius Black was up before ten o'clock in the morning, which she figured he was considering the time differences. "Lily? Um...Savannah called me a few minutes ago." "Yeah?" Lily said, barely audible and still groggy. "Um..." he muttered. Lily was now fully awake. "Oh, no. What happened, Sirius??" He sighed. "This is really hard to say." "Oh, God," she whispered breathlessly. "Just tell me and get it over with." He sighed again. "Lily...Twenty-two out of thirty-four Aurors in Sir Sephilia's office died trying to protect the world from You-Know-Who, and seven of the eleven alive are all of the advanced Aurors, including Sir Sephilia and his Senior Advisor, Sir Raoul Torrington. They won't reveal the names of the living to us yet, but...well, I just wanted to tell you that a.s.a.p. before you found out from somebody else." Lily didn't say anything back as she tried to hold in all the tears and unhappiness that was built up inside of her. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor as the tears rolled down her cheek and as she sobbed into the phone. "We're here for you, Lily," Sirius said softly before hanging up the phone and giving Lily some time and privacy. She immediately wished that she could go back to England to see Sirius and Savannah and all of her friends, and she might have if she didn't have work to do later that morning. That night, Sunday night that is, she had a sinking feeling at the bottom of her stomach that he wasn't ever coming back. And she couldn't help thinking about what a lousy anniversary it was. She didn't want to admit it, but every time they got close to a one-year anniversary, something always happened to prevent it and she never expected death to be a factor. She tried to stop thinking about it, but that made it worse and everywhere she went she would see his face and see his memories. That night she didn't cry herself to bed or even shed one tear for him. She held the picture frame in her arms, and silently prayed that everything was working out for him wherever he was...in heaven, she thought not saying it out loud. She slowly took out the picture from the frame and said softly, "I love you James, but if I can't have you here...I don't want any of you," and with that she slowly ripped up the picture and threw the pieces into the trash, making most of the pieces just scatter across the floor around the waste basket. She thought she'd be bawling by then but instead she stared at the empty picture frame and sat on the floor for hours, just thinking of all of their memories together. She woke up the next morning still sitting on the floor and still in the clothes she had on the day before. She didn't tell Andy anything, even though he could sense something was wrong. Savannah, Sirius, Kaitlynne, Peter and Remus had all called her Monday morning, but Lily shook her head at Andy when he offered the phone to her. That evening she had an interview with her new internship manager, and had tried to put away all of the thoughts of James for that one evening so she wouldn't seen distracted, and it somewhat worked until Mrs. Goldman, her manager, had asked her what she missed most about England. "Oh..." Lily said. "Um...I-I don't really know. My...er...friends, I guess," Lily said, trying not to cry. "Oh, anyone in particular?" Yes, Lily thought, as the tears sprang to her eyes. "Not really," she lied instead. She went back to Andy's apartment—it was still too hard to call it her home at the time—on Saturday night in a strange, awkward mood, and walked in to find five strangers sitting around the living room drinking and laughing. "Um...hello?" she said with a confused smile. "Oh, hey, Lily," Andy said. "I would've told you about this, but I didn't know until about thirty minutes ago that they'd be here," he explained, laughing. Lily grinned at him, and at them all. "Okay, you did not tell us you had another woman roommate," one of the guys said who was by far the tallest (and the cutest, she noted), about six feet two inches, with cute blonde spiked hair, very muscular and had the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. He winked at her. "And you never mentioned she was cute either." Lily laughed, realizing it felt good to laugh after not laughing for a whole day. "I'm taking that as a compliment." "You should," he said, winking again. Andy rolled his eyes. "That's Shane Taylor." "Nice to meet you," he said with a welcoming smile. Andy pointed to another guy, who was leaning against the wall with a beer in his hand who looked older than the rest with dark hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. "That's Brett McAlester." "Hi," he simply said, giving her a strange look as if he knew her already. "That's Brad Holton," Andy said, pointing to a guy with spiked brown hair and brown eyes. "Hey," he said with a warm smile. "That's Erik Bremmington," Andy said pointing a guy with red, curly hair and green eyes and who was obviously older than her and Andy, and he smiled at Lily. "And I'm Callie Bremmington," the only woman in the room, besides Lily, said. She was short with long, straight golden-blonde hair and she somewhat reminded her of Savannah, though definitely a little older. "And this is Lily Evans," Andy introduced. "Wait, did you go to Hogwarts?" Brett asked. Lily nodded, surprised that he even knew about it. "Um...yeah." "That's where I know you from. I went to Hogwarts my last two years of wizardry school. Weren't you friends with the Marauders?" Lily nodded as it made her think of James, but she immediately pushed him out of her mind, just wanting to have a good time. "Yeah. Still am." "Really? That's awesome. I never really got to know anyone there and right after graduation I moved out here to work at my father's company, where I met Shane and Erik who knew Andy...and I, of course, met Callie through Erik. She kinda came out of nowhere...too bad she's still not there," Brett teased laughing. "Yeah, well at least I'm married happily and you're still living in that dump you call a home," Callie shot back, laughing. "Hey, at least I'm not living with the dump," Brett fired back nodding at Erik, and they all laughed, including Lily. "One of my good friends is Andy's cousin, who also attended Hogwarts," Lily explained to Brett. "Which one? Vera, Jacob, or Kaitlynne?" he asked. "Kaitlynne." "Oh, good. I like her best anyway," he said, and they all laughed. "Which is why you dated Vera for two months?" Shane said with a half-smile. "Yeah...terrible mistake," Brett said with a laugh, which made them all laugh. "Okay, so you're probably wondering why they are all here, but we're just celebrating Brett's birthday, which was actually yesterday," Andy explained. "Oh, happy birthday," Lily said to Brett. "Thanks," he said with a grateful smile and a wink. "Lily's birthday was last weekend," Andy informed. "Oh, happy birthday!" they all cooed, and Lily couldn't help but blush for some unapparent reason. "So how long have you been in California?" Brad asked Lily. "Since about...very, very early Tuesday morning, like three o'clock or whatnot," she explained. "Oh, not that long, then," Shane said. Lily shook her head. "Not at all. I got a job at Random House for Wizardry and I started on Wednesday, and I was glad that Kaitlynne had told me that Andy needed a roommate. And here I am." "I work at Random House, also," Callie said. "What division do you work under?" "Publishing with Dr. Rhonda Fleischer." "Oh. I worked there for a year before I moved up on the Board with Dr. Fred Severns as my boss now." "Really?" Lily said, truly interested. "Okay, is it just me or is this starting to sound really boring?" Brad asked faking a yawn, and they all laughed. "Well, I'm sorry that we're more advanced than you technology junkies," Callie teased, and she and Lily roared with laughter. "I don't think we're wanted," Brett commented. "I think you're right, Brett," Brad said. Callie whispered to Lily conspiratorially loud enough for them all to hear "These five should have been rocket scientists. Nothing gets by them." Erik's mouth was playfully agape. "I think she just insulted us." "I think you're right, Erik," Shane said. "See what I mean?" Callie said, nodded as if her point were proven. "Rocket scientists." And they all laughed simultaneously just as there was a knock on the door. "Hmm...I wonder who that is?" Andy thought out loud, just as Lily stood up to grab a beer from the kitchen. "I'll get it," Andy offered, placing down his beer and walking towards the door. The person knocked again, and Andy yelled impatiently, "Hold on! I'm coming!" He opened the door slightly so that the door was hiding everyone in the room from the person at the door and he saw someone who looked vaguely familiar, but he still didn't know who it was. "Um...can I help you?" "Does Lily Evans live here?" "Uh...yeah. And who are you?" "A friend," the person said smugly. "Is she in now? I really need to talk to her." "Yeah, she's here," Andy said, opening the door further. "Thanks, Andy," the person said, walking into the room to see six other people there drinking and laughing and playing around. "Oh...hello." Andy didn't even realize that the person said his name until Brett pointed it out. "How did that person know your name?" Andy stood there stunned. "I-I don't know. I don't know who that was." "Okay, this is just too horror film-like for me," Erik complained. "How is this like a horror film?" Shane asked with a smirk. "Oh, come on. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer? They were stalkers!" he cried, laughing. [a/n: okay, I know these movies didn't come out until the nineties, but I didn't feel like looking up the names of horror movies that were shown in theater before the eighties! J] "Why did I ever marry you?" Callie wondered, grinning at him. This is when Lily got her head out of the refrigerator and turned around to go back towards the living room, figuring that another one of Andy's friends was going to be there, but instead she dropped the beer bottle in shock, making it spill all over and shatter into a thousand little piece and she gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. The 'stalker' was about to say something, but when he opened his mouth he found that he couldn't talk. But they both found that they didn't need words to describe what had just happened. Lily literally jumped over the kitchen chair to get to the person. "James!" she gasped, before pulling him into a long, gratifying hug where they both ended up shedding a few tears for each other and there they stood in each other's arms, not talking, not moving, not making a sound except for an occasional sniffle, and yet...completely satisfied. "But the only thing that was running through my mind was the fact that I had never gotten the chance to tell you that Sir Sephilia had let me into his Auror program. I refused to die without telling you the whole truth." Lily sniffled and hugged him close to her. "Oh, James, I love you so much. I don't care if you hadn't told me. I'm just glad you're back." "I love you, too, Lily," James murmured, kissing her passionately on the lips. "But where were you for the past week?" Lily asked, after they pulled apart. "No one could get a hold of you!" "Let me start from the beginning. I was trailing right behind Voldemort for about four days when our cover was blown by his death- eaters. I was captured, along with almost everyone else. I was close to dead...but I knew I couldn't let you or Sirius or Remus or Savannah or Peter or my parents or everyone else I knew down. It was a tough battle, but Alastor Moody devised a plan for us to escape and him and a few other Aurors at Sephilia's office were given the chance to get away quickly and quietly. We got back to the tent and we told Sephilia where he was hiding, hoping it wasn't too late. Well, we caught him and sent him crawling back to Iceland, actually. Because there were only a few of us left, Sir Sephilia needed all the help he could get this past week and we've been under cover, hidden away, and away from the death-eaters so I couldn't call you or write to you. I was so scared that you guys thought I was gone," James explained. Lily sniffled. They were in her room now, sitting on her bed just talking about everything that had happened in the past two weeks. "We did. The moment I heard that more than half of the Aurors had died on duty, I had this sickening feeling in my stomach. I couldn't deal with it." "As I can see," he muttered bitterly. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked crossly. "Huh?" he asked innocently. "Oh...nothing." "No, tell me what you meant by that." James sighed. "It's just that...well, I did not expect you to be hanging out with a bunch of friends the day after you heard about my mission and the consequences." "What? First of all, they weren't my friends. I didn't even know they were going to be here! They were just celebrating Brett's birthday," Lily explained. "Brett?" he asked with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Yes, Brett," she answered harshly. "Yeah, well if they were Andy's friends why were you hanging out with them?" "Because I needed a good laugh and just to relax and have a good time." "A good time?" James questioned. "I'll just bet you had a good time. I couldn't help but notice there were more males than females," he mumbled under his breath. It's just one more day No one said there would be pain again Won't blame it on myself I'll blame it on the jealous man "So? Are you accusing me of going behind your back?" Lily demanded. "If you thought I was dead, you wouldn't necessarily be going behind my back," James pointed out. "Oh, so instead, you think that the day after I find out that the man that I love could be dead I would start dating someone else?" "I don't know," James said, shrugging. Get away for a while Here I am out on my own again Won't blame it on myself I'll blame it on the jealous man "Oh, jeez, James. I'm not that stupid!! And stop being so goddamn jealous and learn to trust me!" "I do trust you!" "Well, then why are you accusing me of dating other guys when I'm still dating you?" "Hey, it happened before, Lily, if you have forgotten," James said angrily. Lily's expression on her face turned from bitterness to hurt. "I can't believe you just brought that up, James. And besides you know that it wasn't my fault." Standing in the room Calling out your name I was here before I could see your face "How was it not your fault!?" "We were on a break!!!!!!!" Lily screamed. [a/n: I know, I know. Friends. I love that show, what can I say? J] "You said you needed a break so I figured we weren't dating!!" Lily exploded, and she knew that everyone in the other room could hear them but at that moment she didn't care. "Ugh, forget it. Whatever," he muttered. "Oh, and I hate to mention it...no, strike that—I'd love to mention it, that I'm not the only one to blame in that situation! YOU have cheated on me three times, James Potter! So don't scream at me for cheating on you once, when I didn't even cheat on you!! I thought that we could go celebrate your returning, but all you care about is who I've hung out with tonight? That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard!! I can't believe you could be so goddamned shallow!! But, whatever, James. I hope you have a happy life without me because I don't need any of this jealousy crap right at the moment, especially from you!." Lily screamed, jumping off of the bed and walking towards the door. Only clouds will see Tears are in my eyes Empty like my heart Why do you say good-bye? The pain goes on "Don't run away from this, Lily Evans, like you've done in the past!" James cried. "I'm not running away from anything, James Potter. I'm simply facing the fact that my boyfriend, no ex-boyfriend, doesn't seem to want to trust me and thinks that he can control my life. Well, you're wrong, James and I don't any of your love vs. jealousy act right now. Let me live my own life in America, and you go back to England and live your life there...away from me," she snapped at him, before charging towards the door in complete anger and frustration. "We're two different people in two different places. Just leave it at that." Alone I can hear Hear our song Playing for me again Won't blame it on myself Just blame it on the jealous man "No, Lily, wait," James started. "Wait for what? You to accuse me something again!?" "No, I-" Before leaving the room, she turned around to face James. "You know, it always seems like whenever we're close to that one-year mark, we become a little too overprotected of each other. We run and hide from the damn truth, and find an excuse to make space between us...this time there's no need for an excuse," she explained sadly. "Happy Anniversary, James," she said barely audible before leaving her room and walking out of the apartment, not even looking at the six other people in the living room when she passed by them. She just wanted to get out of there and think things over. The pain goes on and on again The suffering will always stand The agony goes on with this man I'll blame it on the jealous man ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Yeah, Happy Anniversary to you, too," James said softly. "And Happy Birthday," he added. He stood up and was about to leave the room when he saw a bunch of ripped up pieces of paper sprawled about the garbage and realized that it was his—and Lily's—favorite picture of them two. Tears of hurt, plus sorrow, filled his eyelids when he realized she had already ripped it up before he got there. He sat there, realizing that Lily was right: they had always become too overprotected and ran from the truth when it came to their one-year anniversary. He sighed, and walked out of the room where he saw everyone staring at him. "Hey," he said to the strangers in the apartment. "Um...hi?" Shane said, still confused as to who it was. "So, you and Lily had still been together after the last time I saw you?" Andy asked, knowing that it was James Potter who was standing in the living room. "Not exactly. We've been off and on and have only truly been serious since last June...but I guess that's over," he explained, and Andy had suddenly remembered when Lily had vaguely told him about that before. "But you heard all about that, I'm sure," James said pointing out that they had probably overheard their argument. They all looked sheepish. "I'm sorry," Callie sympathized, not about to pretend like she didn't hear their yells. "Don't be. It was my fault for being so stupid. But I think she's right. We need space from each other. We just need time to calm down and to get settled into our new lives. It's all for the best," James explained, using the famous line of Sirius and Savannah even though he didn't believe that from one second. Andy nodded. "She's one heck of a woman. Don't let her go," he said, before James left the apartment and apparated back to London. James' first and only priority was to see Lily, and now that he had done that, which ended up being traumatic, he didn't find any real need in going to see any of his other friends, even though he knew he should, considering they were all probably worried about him. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Si-Si, are we going to Allie's tomorrow or are we not?" Savannah asked. He sighed. "I guess so. I...I just don't want any more bad news," he explained. Savannah grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the couch, where she cuddled into his arms. "Honey, if it is bad news, which I bet it's not, wouldn't it be better to be there with Allie than to be here sulking by ourselves?" "Why are you so smart?" he asked her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Because someone in this relationship has to be," she joked. "Hey!" he cried, and they both laughed. "Oh, and Kaitlynne called earlier when you were upstairs and she says that if it's okay that she'll probably move in next Wednesday." "That's perfect. Only I wish it were you who was moving in," he said winking. "Didn't we already talk about this," she teased. "If Kaitlynne gets that job in Australia, and I move back to England after my last year at college, then I'll move in with you, you bozo," she said laughing, "You better," he replied with a grin, just as the phone rang. "Okay, I need to get that." "Okay," she said, without getting up and grinning at him. "You are not helping," he said with a smile as it rang again. "Fine, but you asked for it." He started to tickle her and she squirmed away from him and on to the ground just as the phone rang and there was knock at the door. "I'll get the door, you get the phone," she said still laughing. She walked to the door and opened it and gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth. "Oh...my...God..." she whispered, as she flung her arms around James' neck just as he put his arms around her waist. "Oh, it's good to see you again," James whispered to her, as the tears sprang to her eyelids already. "I can't believe you're actually...here," she cried, instead of saying 'alive.' "I know," he whispered. "Who is it!?" Sirius cried from the kitchen, obviously still on the phone. Savannah grinned and let go of him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Sirius dropped the phone. "Hey," James said with a slight grin. Sirius stood there agape and then did something that he's never done to James in his whole lifetime of being friends with him (not including graduation) and walked over to him and gave him a hug. Both James and Savannah were surprised, but James returned it gratefully and Savannah smiled at them...until she heard a scream from the phone. They all laughed, and Savannah ran to pick it up as James went on to explain the whole story to Sirius. "Hello?" she said. "SIRIUS?" the person cried. Savannah laughed. "No, it's Savannah." "Savannah? Savannah Turner?" the unfamiliar voice said. "Um...yeah. Who is this?" "It's Daniel Marx." "Danny!!" she squealed. "How are you?" He sighed. "Not so good." "Oh, no. What happened?" "I'm not sure. Josh Matthews just called me and-" "What!?" she cried. "Huh?" "Josh Matthews?? He's alive!?" she squealed. "Yeah!" he said happily. "I thought you knew." "Now I do!" "But he can't reach Allie, so I'm not sure what's up with that." "Oh...hmmm...that's strange. I figured she'd stay in the house with the phone open until he called," she thought out loud. "Yeah, I thought so too," he said. "Well, Sirius called me yesterday morning to ask me if I've heard anything on Minnie, and today Josh called me to tell me that ever since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had hit their school, that he hadn't seen her anywhere." Savannah sighed. "Oh, no. Well, I'm sure she's okay somewhere, Daniel, and don't worry about it. In fact, if you want, Sirius and I could pop by later tomorrow." "Oh, would you? That would be so nice of you," he said, extremely grateful. "My house has been pretty lonely since the lock-down and it would be nice to see you again." "Okay, we'll stop by tomorrow," she agreed. "I'll talk to you later." And she hung up the phone and returned to Sirius' and James' conversation. "What about Lily?" Sirius asked. "Did you go see her?" James sighed, as Savannah took a seat next to him. "Yeah," was his plain and simple answer. "What was her reaction?" Savannah asked. "She broke up with me," he replied after deciding just to tell them instead of hide it. "WHAT!?!?" both Savannah and Sirius cried incredulously. James couldn't help but laugh at their reaction. "It's a long story, but...in the end, we got into a huge argument and she broke up with me." Both Savannah and Sirius were speechless. "But...your anniversary is tomorrow!" Savannah blurted out, before covering her mouth, realizing it was a stupid thing to say as Sirius glared at her. "I know," he sighed. "It seems like we always do something stupid and break up before we get to our one-year anniversary. Lily mentioned it, but it always seems like we're hiding from something or we're running from something." "I'm sorry, James," Savannah said, really thinking about apparating to Lily's at the moment and wondering what the heck Lily was thinking. "I-I don't know. It just felt so...real. I mean, we've dated before obviously, but the last year was different. It really felt like sooner or later we'd get married or something. Obviously, I was wrong." "No, you weren't," Savannah said unexpectedly. "What?" James said confused. "Huh?" Sirius asked, bewildered. "Lily's obviously going through a selfish stage or whatnot," Savannah said angrily, surprising herself more than Sirius and James, who were definitely taken aback. "Whoa..." Sirius said. "Savannah, you-" "No, let me finish," she said firmly. "I don't know what you or she did to cause this, but I know nothing could have brought you two apart again. You two are going to be the first of all of us who get married and you two are going to be the first two to have a baby," she said even more firmly. "Is that a demand or an order?" Sirius said with a slight grin. "It's a command," she said without smiling. James looked at her a little strangely, but realized she was just saying it because she that's what she believed in. He wasn't so sure anymore. Disregarding what she was saying, he only said, "Listen, I've got to get back to school, and I have to go by broomstick, so I have to leave now. I'll write you guys," and he stood up and headed for the door. "JAMES!" Savannah snarled rolling her eyes at him, and throwing her hands up into the air, which made him whirl around again. "What?" he asked facing innocence. "You just got here!" she cried. "Besides, you have a story to tell us!" James sighed. "I-I really don't want to talk about it. It was probably my fault anyhow." "You are so right!" she cried again, jumping out of her chair. "I am?" he asked, slinking away slowly, now deathly afraid of her. "You are running from her...or from love at least," she cried disturbed. "I don't know why and I don't care why, but don't sit there and actually expect me to believe that Lily is to blame for everything," she accused. "WHOA! HOLD IT! Are you actually standing there lecturing to me about my love life and defending your best friends when you don't even know what happened!?!?" "You bet your ass I'm doing just that!" she yelled. "I already told you, I don't care what happened but...I know Lily more than I know you, and I know that you're both just hiding something; afraid to admit that you're falling into a bigger commitment than you two thought, is what I'm guessing." "I'm not afraid to admit to anything!" James cried, in total disbelief that Savannah was accusing him of something she knew nothing of. "Yes you are! You just don't know it! And-" "SHUP UP!" James screamed at her, afraid he was going to hit her in any second. His eyes and ears were steaming up and if looks could shoot bullets, then Savannah would be one big hole. "I think I know a little more about my relationship than a snot-nosed, little, spoiled brat like you knows about it so why don't you just mind your own damn business and LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!" And with his final words, he stomped out of the house. "I HOPE YOU DIDN'T YELL THAT AT LILY, BECAUSE IF YOU DID, IT'S OBVIOUS WHY SHE BROKE UP WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!" Savannah cried after him as he slammed the door in her face. She fell to the kitchen chair and sighed. "Oh, God." "Well, that went well," Sirius finally spoke. Savannah said nothing as she sat in her chair with her head in her hands realizing she shouldn't have said anything. The next morning, Savannah and Sirius apparated to Daniel and Minnie's house in Godric's Hollow and were surrounded by hundreds of people they didn't even know. Luckily Sirius spotted Josh and Allie talking to a group of young-looking people about the same age as them and they walked over to where they all were. "Allie!" Savannah cried, giving her a hug. Savannah turned to Josh and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "How could you make me worry about Allie like that??" "Oh, so you don't worry about me, you worry about Allie," Josh said rolling his eye with a silly grin on his face. He and Savannah both knew that they never really liked each other much in Hogwarts, but things have changed. If Allie could find the good deep down inside of Josh, then so could Savannah (she hoped...). Savannah and Josh both wanted to forget their differences. "Weren't you the one who made fun of me graduation night for breaking up with Sirius?" Savannah smirked. Josh laughed. "Oops? Yeah, but you were the one who made my pants fall down in the middle of my speech at dinner that night!" They all laughed. "Oops?" she mimicked. "Okay, okay, okay. We're even," Josh said. "Friends?" Savannah grinned. "Fine, but no more making fun of me...besides I'm dating Si-Si now." He groaned. "Again?" he said. Savannah gave him a look. "I mean...great!!!" They all laughed again. "Um...so why is everyone crowded in this tiny house today...everyone meaning people I don't even know?" Sirius dared to ask. Josh and Allie exchanged awkward glances. "Y-You don't know?" "Didn't know what?" Savannah asked slowly, afraid of what was coming next. "We just came by because Daniel asked us to last night," Sirius pointed out. "Oh," Josh said uncomfortably, fidgeting with the buckles on his khakis. "What happened?" Sirius asked, afraid to know the answer to that question. "Um...this morning...uh...they...well..."Allie started, but tears sprang to her eyes. "No..." Savannah said slowly, dragging it out. Josh nodded. "They found her body this morning," he said barely audible as lump formed in his throat. "Buried under mountains of dust, boulders, bricks, and...and other bodies." "Oh, no!" Savannah cried shaking her head forlornly, as the tears spilled down her face. "Where's Daniel?" "In the kitchen surrounded by relatives. Good luck getting through there," Allie explained. "No one has been able to talk to him for over an hour now." Savannah and Sirius walked into the kitchen where, sure enough, he was surrounded by grandparents and aunts and uncles and parents and cousins. "Danny?" Savannah whispered quietly. He looked up and broke away from his crowd, finishing the conversation abruptly. "Oh, Savannah," he said, tears already spread all over his cheeks. Daniel and Savannah used to be neighbors and knew each other ever since first grade. In Hogwarts, Daniel and Savannah had been the best of friends, going everywhere together and doing everything together. At the time, if Daniel wasn't dating Minnie, and Savannah wasn't 'dating' Sirius, then people would've sworn they would have gone out by their seventh year. If Savannah wasn't hanging out with Sirius, she was hanging out with Daniel. If she wasn't hanging out with Daniel, she was hanging out with Lily, Allie, and Kaitlynne. Unfortunately, after graduation, Minnie and Daniel moved to France, and Daniel and Savannah had separated and lost touch for a while. "I'm sorry," Savannah kept repeating. "I'm so, so sorry." They held on to each other for a long time and Sirius snuck out to go find Allie and Josh again, knowing that Savannah and Daniel would be there for a while. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Savannah and Sirius got home late that afternoon, after spending seven hours at Daniel's house, even after everyone left. Savannah sat by Daniel's side for comfort for as long as he needed it and Sirius refused to leave them there alone. Daniel needed friends, and Savannah and Sirius gave him that. Savannah and Sirius walked into Sirius' house around five o'clock, exhausted and depressed. "I can't believe this has happened," Savannah mumbled mournfully. "She was so young. She doesn't deserve this!" "No one ever deserves to die, Vannie," Sirius pointed out, throwing the keys on to the table beside the front door. "I know," Savannah muttered. "But...but...it's different when it happens to someone you know." Sirius nodded in agreement. "I know." As Sirius walked into the kitchen to grab a couple of sodas, Savannah watched him closely as she plopped on to the couch. She didn't know what she'd do if Sirius ever died. She didn't want to think about it, but for some reason, that's all that was going through her mind. Sirius was her life and her reason for living. He was always there for support and always did things that made Savannah know they were completely in love. She sighed and suddenly there was a knock on the door. "I've got it, Si!" Savannah cried, getting up and walking towards the door. When she opened it, she frowned deeply. "What are you doing here?" "Savannah, I'm so sorry," James apologized sincerely, ready to get down on his hands and knees for forgiveness. "Why? Aren't I just a snot-nosed, spoiled brat?" Savannah replied crossly. "No," James urged earnestly. "You're everything but that. You're one of my best friends and I wish I could take back everything that I had said to you yesterday! I never intended on hurting you and I hate it when you're mad at me! If I—" "James, I'm not mad," Savannah said quietly. "—could do anything...wait, what? You're not?" "No." "But...but...I had a whole speech planned! I'm not even half- finished! I was getting ready to grovel at your feet and kiss your toes!" Savannah grinned. "Well, if you really want to grovel at my feet, I wouldn't mind that." James laughed. "Savannah, I really do deserve your anger. I said some things that I never should have said. Especially to you. You have always been there for Lily and me, and what I said was just stupid!" "James, you can be an idiot sometimes," Savannah smirked, chuckling to herself. "But I realized today that you were just defending yourself. Listen, right now, you and I aren't the issue. Daniel needs us, and I can't bear to live with you mad at me at this time. I spent almost half a day with Danny and I realized that you almost died last week!! I should not be screaming at you! I should be hugging you! Kissing you! Praising you! Celebrating! I should not be scolding you! If that was you who had died, I never would have been able to live with myself." "But it wasn't me," James said softly. "I'm not going anywhere. I will never hurt you again like I did yesterday, Savannah. Thanks for understanding." "So do we agree to disagree with this whole Lily situation?" Savannah said. "Yes. And let's just leave it at that." Savannah smiled widely and gave him a very unexpected hug. "Welcome home, James." "Thanks," James whispered back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "It's good to be back..." James walked away after that and Savannah smiled again as she closed the door and turned back to where Sirius was leaning against the kitchen door with an all-knowing smile on his face. "Don't say 'I told you so,'" Savannah said, walking over to him with a smile on her face. "Hey, I never get to be right!" Sirius complained. "But this time I told you that you two would make up, and I was right!!" "Don't get used to it," Savannah muttered. He laughed as he leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss. "I told you so..." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Four days later, they had the funeral and everyone was there. Daniel's parents, brothers, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, Minnie's parents, brother, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, neighbors, co-workers, Sirius, Josh, Remus, Peter, James, Savannah, Allie, and Kaitlynne. Halfway through the service, both Savannah and Sirius noticed that Lily wasn't there, and wondered why but didn't say anything until afterward. ......Actually, James noticed from the beginning, but he wasn't about to admit to that. At the reception, back at Daniel's house, Savannah asked Sirius, "Where's Lily?" He was taken aback. "I thought you'd know!" "But..." Savannah looked at him speechless. "Oh, my gosh! No one told Lily about Minnie." Sirius took a long sigh and drawled it out. "Could this day get any worse?" he groaned. James came up from behind them, knowing what they were talking about already, but asked, "What are you guys talking about?" Savannah and Sirius exchanged looks and hesitated before answering. "Lily," they both said. "Oh...why isn't she here?" he asked, trying to act casual. Savannah sighed. "Because no one told her." "Wh-what??" "Yeah. We were so caught up with everyone that I guess we all forgot," Sirius explained. "She's not going to like the fact she missed this," James pointed out. "How do you know that?" Sirius asked. James sighed. "We may not be dating now, but I knew her better than anyone, and I still do. She's going to feel so out of the loop now. She's going to feel like everyone forgot about her since she's moved out to California." Savannah sighed. "I know...I know." "Soooo," James said casually. "I'm guessing you haven't heard from her lately." Sirius rolled his eyes at his friend, who was still obviously in love with her. "No, we've been too busy. I talked to her June 1, which was the last time." James nodded and Savannah agreed with Sirius. "Yeah, I haven't exactly been the best of friends with her at the moment," she sighed. "Don't worry about it, Vannie," Sirius said, rubbing her neck. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Where the hell have you been these past few days?" Lily screamed into the phone when Savannah answered Sunday afternoon, as she was getting ready to fly back to Canada to go on tour with the Silver Snitches. Savannah felt incredibly guilty and didn't want to tell her, but she knew she had to. "Well, I'm staying with Sirius for this week as the lock-down cools down and I got a leave of absence for it and-" "How did you manage that?" Lily asked. "You just told them you wanted to be with your boyfriend?" Savannah sighed, knowing it was the moment of truth. "Not exactly. My reason for Monday was that my friends' spouses weren't found yet and I wanted to be there." "Oh, my God! That's right! What happened with Josh and Minnie?" Lily suddenly remembered. "Well...I was able to get another leave of absence for the rest of the week because..." she trailed off. "Oh, no. Don't do this to me, Savannah Lydia Turner!" Lily scolded. "What happened!?!?" "Uh...Josh came home," she said plainly. "And..." "SAVANNAH!" Lily screamed again, making Andy paranoid in the other room. "WHAT HAPPENED!?" Savannah sighed. "Minnie died, Lily." There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Savannah wasn't sure Lily heard her until Lily suddenly said, "Oh, my God. How's Danny?? How's he doing? And how is everyone else dealing with it? Oh, and when's the funeral??" Savannah went silent this time, knowing that Lily was about to blow up in her face. "Danny's going to be okay. And I'm fine, and Sirius and Remus and Kaitlynne and Peter and Allie and Josh are all dealing with it." "What about the funeral?" Lily asked. Savannah hesitated again, "Lily, I've been so busy with Danny lately, and so have Allie and Josh, and Sirius had been supportive with everything. He's always there to run out to the store to get something or be by anyone's side. Then there's Remus who was still worried about his sister—she's fine now—and Kaitlynne was staying with him helping him out and Peter only swung by everyone's place on Wednesday and since then he was just everywhere helping out with everyone, and he's gotten no sleep lately. In fact I haven't slept a wink in days and I've been staying over at Danny's house a lot lately and Kaitlynne and Remus were caught up with Charlotte, his sister, so they've been pretty out of it. And Sirius has been in and out of everyone's house, sleeping whenever he got the chance wherever he got the chance and Peter had to work through most of the nights and-" "Savannah? What are you talking about?" Lily asked slowly, realizing that in her long lecture she never once spoke of James. Savannah sighed, realizing there wasn't any good explanation for this. She took a deep breath in and then out and said, "The funeral was yesterday morning." Again, there was silence on the other end of the phone, but Lily didn't say anything. "Lily?" Savannah said. "Soooo....basically, you were all too busy to write Lily a letter or call Lily to explain that Danny needs support and that there's a funeral going on that I should be at?" Lily cried crossly. "Lily, I'm sor-" "No, don't say you're sorry," Lily snapped. "If you were sorry you would've realized that there's someone in California who can't just pop back to England whenever she likes and doesn't know what's happening unless she's informed! If you were sorry you would've thought about how your best friend would feel to find out another friend's wife is dead...a day late! If you were really sorry, you would've picked up the phone in a second and called me to explain the situation! You're not sorry, you're just unbelievably short-winded!" "Lily-" "No, you have no right talking to me right now, Savannah! Nor does Sirius or Remus or Kaitlynne or Peter or Allie or Josh or whoever!!! I'm stuck in California, and I have no idea what's even happening with my goddamned friends! And you call this a friendship!" she sneered. "Tell Sirius that he was obviously mistaken when he said that we'll always keep in touch! And tell Sirius that his girlfriend should be more observant of her best friend who is completely oblivious to everything going on in England!! Oh, and tell Danny that I'm sorry and that I'll call him later when I calm down and I'm done yelling at my pathetic excuse for a best friend!" Lily finished, before slamming the phone down, understanding that she was a little too harsh and shouldn't have taken out her built-up anger on Savannah. Savannah was hurt by what Lily said, but she realized she felt more guilty than anything. Yes, Lily had been a little harsh on her and she thought she'd be more angry, but she wasn't. She was more angry at herself than she was at Lily. "Who was that?" Sirius asked walking downstairs. He had slept late, until noon and then had taken a long, satisfying shower. Savannah sighed. "Lily." "And I'm guessing she did not take the whole missing-the- funeral-thing so well." Savannah shook her head. "She called me a pathetic excuse for a best friend and short-winded. She said I shouldn't be sorry for what happened because that it shouldn't have happened at all. Oh and she tells you that the whole 'keeping in touch' thing is not working and you were obviously mistaken and to tell your girlfriend that she should be more observant of her best friend who was oblivious to everything happening in England." Sirius sighed, and walked over to her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Oh, honey, she's not mad at you, she's just angry that no one bothered to tell her about Minnie. Don't feel bad." Savannah shook her head. "But that's the thing...I don't feel bad. I feel guilty. I feel stupid. I feel worthless. I feel pathetic. I feel disloyal. I feel horrible. The list keeps going. But mostly...I feel angry with myself. She's right. I shouldn't be sorry because it shouldn't have happened. I just...got caught up with everything and forgot about her for one measly second in my life." "Vannie, if anyone should feel guilty and horrible, it shouldn't be you. You have been of much obliged help to Danny, and he needed it. He needed your support and you gave him that. Dealing with death is painful...trust me, I've been there. All he needed was a good friend to be there, and that was you. You did a good thing this week, Vannie, and here I am realizing that I haven't done much at all to benefit anyone. I've just been around, helping out with you and Danny, and with Remus and Kaitlynne and Peter, and James, and basically worthless things. They didn't help anyone. I'm the worthless one here!" "No way. I might have been there for Danny, but I've been there all week. You've been helping everyone, and that's what they need! As long as they have your support that's great! I only gave my time to one person. Besides, Lily's my best friend!!! I'm the worthless one!" "No way!!! You-" Savannah interrupted him by erupting with a loud, hyena-type laugh which made Sirius stare. "Sirius, we're arguing over who's more worthless. This argument is worthless!!!" Sirius laughed with her. "You're right, Vannie. Let's just agree that we're both worthless," and they both laughed. "Okay...but I'm more worthless," she muttered. "Not if I can help it," he muttered back, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm leaving in two hours and that's all I get?" she asked. "Oh, no way. I'm just waiting for the right time in this two- hour period to give you more," he said with a playful grin. "Fine, how about we go upstairs and do the packing?" Savannah said expressionless. "Packing?? Is that my new nickname?" he asked with a wink and Savannah laughed. "Let's just hope there aren't tons of clothes sprawled out on your bed," he teased. "No, I made sure that stayed clean," she said with a grin before dragging him upstairs. *~*~*~*~* Sirius heard a knock on his door the next night and after putting down the remote and the popcorn he had in his hands, he went to see who it was. "Hi, Sirius," Lily said slowly. "Lily!" he cried, sounding very surprised. "I know you're wondering why I'm here, right?" "Well...uh...yeah, kinda." "I was just wondering if Savannah was still here." Sirius winced. "She left last night," he said with a straining face as if he already knew why she wanted see her. "By the look on your face I'm guessing Savannah had told you what I said." Sirius put on a guilty look. "Well...yeah." "Maybe...maybe I'll just send her a letter or something to her dorm," Lily thought out loud. "Well, I'm sorry to bother you." "You're not. I was just watching a movie alone on a Saturday night. Pathetic, right?" he grinned. "Yeah, well I better go anyway." "Why?" Sirius asked. Lily sighed. For some reason, it just felt uncomfortable standing there with him. Mostly because of what had happened with Savannah and her, but also because of the fact that she couldn't help but remember that she didn't live there anymore. California was her home and that's where it was going to be. She felt out of the loop with everyone...especially standing in from of her former house. "I-I just don't belong anymore," she whispered. "What are you talking about?!" Sirius cried, trying not to laugh. "I don't live here anymore, Sirius. Everything has changed and I just feel...out of the loop," she said miserably. "But you're not out of the loop...at least, I won't let it happen. You do belong because you're my friend. That's all that matters, Lily." "Will I always be?" "Yes. I don't care if you become a penguin and live in Antarctica!! I'd still come visit you. I'd have to wear ten jackets and twenty pairs of gloves and thirty pairs of socks and get a pair of those snow pants and it would be pretty hard to find you considering you'd look like everyone else on the damn continent, but if I had to spend the rest of my life searching for you on that damn piece of sheer ice, so be it. I refuse to lose a friendship with you just because you moved to California." Lily couldn't help but smile. "A penguin? Couldn't I be a koala bear or something where I don't have to live in the freezing cold?" "You are totally missing the point here." "No, I got it. I just don't want to be a penguin." "I'm sorry, why am I your friend?" he teased. "Quack." "Penguins don't quack!!" Sirius said with a laugh. Lily laughed. "I know. But it would just sound stupid if I said, 'Waddle, waddle.'" They both laughed. "Okay, well I got to get home now, but if you talk to Savannah before I do, just tell her I was looking for her," Lily said, turning around. "Savannah isn't mad at you, if that's what you were wondering." Lily stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. "What? How could she not be?" "She claims it was all her fault because she never told you. Actually, we all feel really bad. Both Savannah and I feel horribly guilty for not going to you right away. We're really sorry, and we promise to stay in touch with you about everything that happens." "You shouldn't feel guilty. You both had a lot on your minds, what with Minnie and all, and I do understand a little, but I don't want this to happen every time something terrible or something excellent happens." "It won't. I refuse to let that happen again. Trust me; I've learned my lesson and so has everyone else." "I just...I just felt so bad when I found out...too late. I wanted to be there for Daniel and I wasn't. He needed all the support he could get, and I wasn't there giving him any." "I'm so sorry, Lily." "So am I. I shouldn't have yelled at Savannah the way I did. I was just frustrated with the whole moving to California situation." "So are the rest of us," Sirius said wearily. Lily sighed. "Speaking of California, I guess I've got to be getting back. I've got a lot of stuff to do." "Don't," Sirius urged. "Stay here. I haven't spent much time with you since you left." "But-" "Please? I'm asking you as you fellow penguin!" Lily laughed. "Fine, fine...as long as I don't have to watch any nature videos about penguins." Sirius laughed as he closed the door behind her...he knew that this would be just like old times! Kaitlynne eventually moved in with Sirius and she started dating Remus, who was still living with Peter. Both of them kept their jobs, although Remus had been promoted to co-assistant in the sea monster division. Since touring with the Silver Snitches, Savannah had toured with BBWiz, Lorna VanCampbell, the Creepy Owls, Laurette Scamson, the Lord V's, the Deathifyers, VP Witchcraft, and the Underworld Wizards. She had also gotten single gigs playing at coffeehouses, she had been opening for other bands, and wrote and sold tons of her music. Basically...she was gaining a lot of money in the music business and liked every minute of it.
Sirius got a new job at Hickory Bee's Joke Shop in Diagon Alley, and was slowly moving up to assistant manager. He quit his job at the school and, to make up for extra money, became a waiter at Three Broomsticks three night of the weeks, working with Rosmerta, who wasn't too fond of that...J Sirius and Savannah were still together, and they were better than ever. They weren't just the happiest couple they wanted to be; they were in love. No, they hadn't said it to each other yet, but that was because they were both scared. They've had their rough times, and through those times there wasn't much standing in the way. But love...that would always stick with them. Mostly because they both knew how they truly felt about each other even if it wasn't spoken out loud yet. Peter kept his job, though where he worked relocated to western Canada, luckily he could apparate so he didn't move out and did the same things he always did (let's just say that no one really knew what he did...only you and me.) Allie and Josh finally got married in October of 1981 and moved into a bigger house around New Years in a town not too far away from Alphamstone. Allie took over her grandparents' restaurant and became the manager two months after starting a waitressing job there. Josh became an actor in Les Miserables for four months before retiring to a better part in Sound of Music to which he still performs in now. James has been on plenty of Auror missions, many that could have killed him and many that were close calls that they made Savannah and Sirius scream his head off for being so stupid. He still attended school, though only to get his master's degree in the Auror business legally so in the future, it could help for getting another job, if this one bailed...which he hoped it wouldn't. Lily finished her internship over the summer of 1981 and got her journalism degree and her Daily Prophet editor rights from a long ceremony at the end of August. She kept with her job at Random House for Wizardry instead of heading back to England to look at a job at Daily Prophet. She was still living with Andy, but instead of the apartment, they had both moved out down the street into a nice bigger and affordable house they had both liked. James and Lily had avoided each other since the last time they saw, which was May 31, and had been discrete on why they couldn't make it to the party or the reunion or the celebration or a get-together, their other friends planned, usually using work as an excuse. James even said he couldn't attend Josh and Allie's wedding because of an important Auror deadline he 'forgot about.' Everyone knew he was just chickening out.
Now it was June of 1982 and Andy and Lily decided to throw a graduation party for all of their friends, which were Savannah, Josh, Shane, Brett, and Elizabeth Hallett. Since James was still studying to be an Auror, he still had half a year to go...not that he would have shown up even if the party were for him. Savannah, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Kaitlynne, Josh, Allie, and Daniel had arrived at Lily and Andy's home for the party on June 12 along with Andy's friends, Shane, Brett, Brad, Erik, Callie and his two other friends, Elizabeth Hallett and Zachary Salias. James couldn't attend because he 'had an important Auror mission to complete that would need his full attention for the week, but he hopes that they all have fun.' Now all of Lily's friends, not including Lily, knew that he wasn't there just because it was too awkward for him to stay at Lily's home when they weren't dating anymore even though Lily sent him an invitation. Sirius even begged him to come, and James knew that Sirius knew the real reason, but he refused to step back and go to the party. He was still in love with Lily and he wasn't about to see her when he didn't absolutely need to. "Okay, now that we are all done with dinner and before the cake is brought out, I haven't heard form a lot of you in a while and I demand to know what is up in everyone's lives," Andy said, and they all laughed. "Well, I have some news," Kaitlynne said and Remus turned to her but she shook her head, as if to say hold on. "Well, for those of you who didn't know, I got the job in Australia-" "That's great!" Lily and Allie cried and Savannah and Sirius nodded, because they already knew. "Wait, hold on. I'm actually not going to take it, though, and I'm staying with my job at the London Ledger," Kaitlynne continued. "What? Why?" Lily asked. "Well...something more important came up..." Kaitlynne said with a grin. Kaitlynne and Remus couldn't help but grin at each other and laugh towards the group, to which the entire group turned to them with raised eyebrows. "Well...uh..." Kaitlynne started out. "Last night was our one-year anniversary and instead of giving me the usual anniversary gifts, he...uh...well, he proposed!" she squealed. "Oh, my God!" "Are you kidding me??" "Seriously!?!?" "This is so great!!" "Congratulations!" "When's the wedding?" "I'm so excited for you!" "He got you pregnant, didn't he," Sirius accused, and they all laughed. "No, Sirius, he didn't get me pregnant and don't ask me any questions about the wedding yet because I've only had one day to think about it!" Kaitlynne replied, and they all laughed. "Any other good news?" Lily asked everyone. "Can anyone top marriage??" And they all laughed again. "Well, to those who didn't know already, I'm pregnant again," Callie said, beaming. "You are?!" "That's so great!" "That's good news!!" "Congratulations!!" "You didn't tell me!" "How long have you known?!" "Oh, I'm so happy for you two!" "Boy or girl?" "How many months?" "Now, how old is Mei again?" "He got you pregnant, didn't he," Sirius accused. "Oh, wait. We knew that." They all laughed again. "I just found out last week, and I'm only a month pregnant, I don't know if it is a boy or girl, and, to answer your question, Elizabeth, Mei is now two years old and as cranky as ever." They all laughed and Lily said, "Well, I guess a pregnancy can top marriage...or it's about the same." That just sent everyone laughing again. "Okay, well, for those of you who know me, I'm obviously Sirius Black...and for those of you who don't know me...I'm still Sirius Black," he started, and everyone laughed. "That's the unfortunate part," Savannah teased. "HEY!" She winked at him and they all laughed. "Well, before I was rudely interrupted," Sirius said glaring at Savannah playfully, "I have some good news, as well." "What?" Savannah cried in confusion. He laughed. "I was going to tell you first, Honey, but this seems appropriate. I got the job as the assistant manager at Hickory Bee's." "Finally!" "You did!?" "That's great!" "Congratulations!" "That's awesome!" "He got you pregnant, didn't he," Lily mimicked. He gasped. "How'd you find out!?" he joked, and they all laughed. "Oh, and more news—Savannah's moving in with me at the end of August," he continued. "Took you long enough," Lily muttered, and everyone laughed. "She was still in school," Sirius defended. "Besides, Kaitlynne was living with me for a while!" "Oh, I'm sure that's the only reason," Remus commented. "You would have kicked Kaitlynne out on to the streets during the middle of a huge rainstorm in the freezing weather if Savannah was given the chance to come live with you!" "No way," Sirius protested. "...I would have given her an umbrella and maybe an extra jacket." "It's nice to know I'm loved," Kaitlynne said sarcastically. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ They all stuck around for most of the night, until late, around midnight, before returning back to their homes or returning back to someone else's home, except for Sirius and Savannah and Shane who were helping to clean up the place and basically just spend even more time with each other. Sirius and Lily both went to the garage with a garbage bag in their hands, as Lily finally had the guts to ask him casually, "Uh...so, Sirius, have you heard from James lately?" Sirius grinned wide, but luckily it was dark in the garage so Lily didn't notice. He knew that Lily was trying to act as if she didn't care at all, but it was obvious that she still cared about him a lot. It's been over a year since they've talked last and they're both too stubborn to admit that they miss each other's company. "Actually, I talked to him three days ago when his graduation ceremony was. He says he wish he could have been here," Sirius lied, "But he needed to work for the rest of the week." Lily nodded, obviously very disappointed. "Oh. Okay. I... I just haven't spoken to him in over a year, so I was just curious," she fibbed. Sirius grinned again while rolling his eyes. "I know. I don't know why you two refuse to talk to each other. But...it's not my business and Savannah would whip my butt if she found out I was even telling you what I thought." "Oh, so it's all about what your girlfriend wants nowadays?" Lily said, laughing, but actually just trying to avoid what Sirius had said. She knew it was true and Sirius knew she knew it was true, but she wasn't about to show it. "Lily, just talk to him," Sirius urged. Lily sighed. "Sirius, it's complicated. You don't know the whole story." "I know I don't, but you two have got to get through your complications. I don't know what happened between you two, and I'm not trying to figure it out because it's not my problem, but I hate to see you both so distant." "Sirius..." Lily sighed, looking up at the night sky. "You know what my mother always used to say? Life is like a constellation—you never know what you may find, but something always turns up. When that 'something' turns up, I'll know it. But it's not time yet for me to go out seeking for the answers yet. I'm still young and I don't know what I want. Please, just leave it at that." Sirius saw her staring into the midst of the cold air and sighed without letting her notice. "I'm sorry, Lily. I just want you to be happy." Lily looked back at him and smiled, brightening her face with the moonlight. "I am happy." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ By late July, Kaitlynne had moved out of her home in Alphamstone and Remus moved out of his apartment with Peter. Kaitlynne and Remus moved in together to a smaller, peaceful wizardry town and into a nice-sized house in Concave Borough, a town right outside of Alphamstone, where they spent most of their summer planning the wedding, which was to be held on October 22. Lily still had work, but on the weekends, she often went to go visit Savannah, still in Canada finishing up little odd jobs her agent gave her, and Sirius who still lived in Alphamstone. Sometimes she would visit Daniel in Godric's Hollow, which was her absolute favorite town, or she'd visit Allie and Josh, who were now moving to southern England. She often visited Kaitlynne and Remus in their new home and helped out a lot with the wedding, as did everyone. Every time she would go to Sirius' house, she secretly wished that she could have seen James at least once. For all she knew, he could have long hair, an earring, bell-bottoms and high-tops and could be saying "Peace," and "Wicked," to people passing on the street. Somehow, she figured that he didn't change into a hippie, but it still would have been nice to see him again. Luckily, she got her change at the end of August. Dear Lily Evans, You are invited to celebrate a five-year Hogwarts reunion in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School on August 21 at 6 o'clock in the evening. This will be a chance to see all of your old friends, catch up on some current news, to see you old teachers, and to have a good time, just like the good ol' days. I hope we will all see you there. Sincerely, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore She laughed, realizing that the people she'd want to see at the reunion, she's already friends with. And Dumbledore, of course. And...well, she wasn't about to admit it, but James, also. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "You have to go," Savannah whined to Daniel two days before the reunion. "Why? So everyone can come up to me and ask me how Minnie's doing? Everyone in that damn school knew I married her...but not everyone knows she died," he said. Savannah gave him her puppy-dog look. "Awww, pwease come? For me?" Savannah asked. "I'll keep people away from you," she said, and they both laughed. "I'll save you a few dances, also." He laughed. "Okay, fine, fine, I'll go, but I'm not going to have any fun." They both laughed and Savannah said, "Not if I can help it." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Where were you?" Sirius asked, when she got back to Sirius' later that night. She was staying at Sirius' house for the week until the reunion then she'd return to Canada for one last week before moving in with Sirius. Half of her stuff was already at his house...not unpacked. "I was over at Daniel's. He told me he wasn't going to go to the reunion last night and I couldn't convince him then, so I decided to stop by this afternoon when you were at work." Sirius nodded, hating the fact that she was often spending time with Daniel and not him, but he didn't say so. "As long as I have you tonight," he said, giving her a quick kiss. "Oh, you do," she said with a grin. "And after next week, you'll have me all of the time." "That's what I like to hear!" "No, you like to hear that Brittney Spears is moving in with you next week and she wants to marry you," she said with a giggle. "Well...you're second on my list," he said, and they both laughed. "Oh, great. I'm a consolation prize," she said rolling her eyes with a grin. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Well, Miss Turner and Mr. Black, I heard that you two are quite the item these days," Dumbledore greeted them. They both blushed. "If you want to put it that way," Savannah said with a laugh, as they entered into the Great Hall, where they saw about twenty other people there at the time, and about fifteen of them on the dance floor and the rest just standing around chatting. Savannah saw Daniel near the punch bowl and they walked over to him. "Hey, Danny." "Okay, four people just came up to me and asked me how Minnie was," Daniel said to Savannah. "This is not exactly the fun time you promised me." Savannah laughed. "I'm sorry. It will get better, I promise you." They all laughed. "Are Lily or James here yet?" Sirius asked. "James is over with Remus and Peter, and Lily hasn't gotten here yet," he explained. Sirius started walking over to James and Remus and Peter, but stopped when Savannah didn't come with him. "Are you coming?" "Huh? Oh, no, I'll stay here and talk to Danny." Sirius was annoyed, but didn't show it as he nodded and turned towards James and Remus and Peter. "As long as you're only talking," he muttered to only himself. James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius got into a discussion about their last year at Hogwarts. "James?" a voice said from behind. They all turned around and saw a beautiful, short, petite blonde-haired, blue-eyed, gorgeous woman standing there. "Avril Harper?" he said. "Wow! You've changed so much!" And he gave her a bear hug. They had dated in their third year for five months, until they just started to drift apart. "You want to dance?" "Sure," he replied, and they left to go to the dance floor. "That's one down. Three more to go," Sirius mumbled, and right on cue Kaitlynne walked over. "You want to dance, Remus?" "Of course." "I take that back, make it two down, two to go," Sirius corrected, and Peter snickered. Lily walked into the room at the moment and scanned it, looking for her friends. She saw Savannah and Daniel talking off to the side and Sirius and Peter talking off to the side. She immediately recognized Remus and Kaitlynne dancing on the dance floor and saw Allie and Josh next to them. She pretended not to look, but she scanned the room until her eyes landed on James dancing with Avril Harper. She stared at them for the few minutes, trying to ignore the jealous feeling at the bottom of her stomach. "Take a picture. It lasts longer," someone said from behind. She turned around and saw Savannah there with a grin on her face. "What are you talking about?" Lily said huffily. "I'm not dumb. I've been watching you and that's all you've stared at for the past two minutes." "That's not true," Lily lied. "Fine, don't believe it," she said. "I'm going to look for Sirius." Lily sighed and went to go sit down at an empty table off to the side. "...Okay, so maybe it is true," she muttered to herself. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Throughout the evening, Lily had been asked by plenty of people to dance, and she agreed with every person, and she sat and talked to a bunch of people, including Dumbledore and McGonnagal about everything, and she often ended up hanging out with Sirius a lot while Savannah danced with Danny a bunch of times. If you wanted to know every inch of what Lily had done that night or who she was with or what she ate...just ask James. He was watching her the whole time, even though he wouldn't admit it. "She's not going anywhere. You can take your eyes off of her for a second, can't you? Or are you afraid to lose sight of her?" Savannah asked, coming up from behind him. "What? I don't know what you're talking about," James lied. "Yes you do, but fine, don't admit it. Lily did the same before," she said mischievously. "Huh?" James asked. "Um...what do you mean?" he asked, pretending not to care. "Oh, she was staring at you with Avril for a while," Savannah said playfully, before getting up. "What? Why?" "I think you know." "I'd know more if you just told me..." "Oops, got to go now. Sirius is awaiting," Savannah said with a wink. "Savannah!!" James cried as he watched her submerge into the crowd, thinking about what she had just said. She was staring at me? He thought. But...why?? But deep down, he knew the answer. Lily sat off to the side, after dancing with Danny for a few minutes, just sipping a glass of punch, when she heard someone behind her. "Hi," a very familiar voice said. She half-turned and saw the one person she never would have thought would have come up to her. Her heart sped up at the sight of James, who wasn't a hippie, and she took a deep breath in and out. "Hi," she replied with a warm, welcoming smile. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat next to her. The whole table was empty, and if it was anyone else she may have made a joke about how now her invisible circus was there with her or something, but because it was James, she just shook her head. "Nope." "So...uh...I haven't talked to you in a year and three months. Something must be going on with you," he said with a smile. She smiled back, realizing how good it felt to be talking to him once again. "Nothing that you probably haven't heard from Sirius or Savannah." "Oh...okay. Then I hear you're doing well," James said, acting casual. "Yeah, I guess so," Lily said. "You meeting anyone new?" James asked. "What do you mean?" Lily asked. She was wondering if he was talking about boyfriend new or friends new. "Well you didn't want to go all the way to California because you would miss your friends-" And me, "so I was just asking if you met any new friends." "Oh you mean besides the ones that I cheated on you with the time I thought you were dead?" Lily snapped. Okay, that wasn't supposed to come out. "Look Lily, I didn't-" James started. "Just forget it," Lily said. "I didn't mean to say it." "But you did," James said. "I don't know what came over me that day. I'm sorry." "I know," Lily said, but she didn't accept his apology. If you hadn't gotten all jealous and I hadn't gotten mad we'd still be together today. "So...is everything alright between us?" James asked. Lily snorted. "James, if everything was alright between us, we wouldn't have avoided each other for the past few years." James sighed. "We both just needed time." "I didn't want to have that much time," Lily pointed out. "In fact, I didn't want to have any time!" "Lily, I'm sorry," James said sadly. "There's not much else I can say right now. We can't go back in time and replace those few years we just lost." "Yeah, well, whose fault is that?" Lily grumbled in frustration. "What?" "I'm not the jealous one, here," Lily commented. "I'm not the one who doesn't trust me or the one who didn't trust our relationship! I'm not the one who ganged up on me the day after you got back!" "Lily, I'm—" "Don't say you're sorry," Lily muttered angrily. "Because if you were, then it wouldn't have happened." "Lily, I—" "Nothing is the way it used to be, James," Lily said sorrowfully. "And it probably never will be." And with those last heartbreaking words, she got up and left James behind, not looking back at his frustrated and shocked face as she went to go find someone else to talk to. James sighed and looked down at the ground in sympathy. "Hey buddy! Saw you talking to Lily..." Sirius said with a smirk. "So?" James asked. "Well what did you say to her? What did she say to you?" Sirius asked. "She's still a little angry..." James explained. "What?! She can't be! She is not! It's been over a year!" "Yes she is. I was the one talking to her." "You really wish she wasn't mad at you huh?" Sirius asked. James looked at him as if that was the stupidest question to be asked. "She's one of my best friends! Of course I wish she wasn't mad at me." "That's not the only reason..." "Fine, fine!" James cried. "Maybe I do miss her! But of course I do! She's the only woman I've ever loved!" "Then tell her that." "She won't listen." "How do you know without trying?" "I just know..." Over on the other side of the room: "So I saw you talking to James..." Savannah said casually, coming up to Lily. "Yes, I'm sure you did," Lily said. "So what did you guys talk about?" "Nothing," Lily grumbled. "We argued...again." "About what?" Savannah sighed, leaning against the wall behind her, feeling sorry for Lily. "I'm not even sure...I thought I'd be okay with seeing him again, but I ended up lashing out at him for his stupid jealousy. I really didn't want to do that! I just want to be able to talk to him again...normally." "And maybe one day you'll get that chance," Savannah said gently. "Not anytime soon..." Lily muttered exasperatedly. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Cutest Couple Award goes to Sirius Black and Savannah Turner!" Dumbledore said, finishing up the awards. Savannah and Sirius went up to receive their award. "Most Likely to Succeed goes to Severus Snape!" Dumbledore said as a lot of the other people groaned as Snape went up to accept. "And finally The Male Forever Friends goes to..." Dumbledore was naming the very last award, "...Sirius Black and James Potter!" Everyone cheered and the two boys went up to accept it with grins and bows. "And now for my long, boring speech I'm sure some of you want to hear and the rest of you don't want to hear," Dumbledore joked. Everyone turned to him and either sat down at a table, or continued standing off to the sides. Lily, Savannah, Allie, Kaitlynne, Remus, Peter, Sirius, Daniel, Josh, James, Avril, and her best friends Georgette Crimson and Todd Huffy all took one of the biggest tables in the room. "Tonight is the moment of truth to what has been hidden these past five years in everyone's lives. People have obviously been very busy these past five years and I congratulate all of you. Out of the forty people that had graduated five years ago, there are three Aurors in the room, two teachers, three doctors, two actors, an actress, a model, three singers, three journalists, a photographer, two authors, a student who's on the ministry council, an owner of a restaurant, a land-creature researcher, a physicist, a sea trainer, a medicalist, a dragon specialist, an owl specialist, two housewives, two waiters, a secretary, an owner of a bookstore, an assistant manager at a joke shop, and I bet you all know who that is," Dumbledore said as everyone turned towards Sirius who grinned, "And finally the worst fate of them all, unfortunately...there are four deaths." "Okay, I'm leaving," Daniel whispered to Savannah, who laughed. "I would like to recognize those special four people who entered our lives and changed us forever," Dumbledore continued. Danny's eyes started to glisten, and Savannah noticed, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "These four exceptional people had made us smile, made us frown, made us laugh, made us cry, made us angry, made us happy, made us change on the inside and on the outside and they made us who we are today. Can we please just take a minute and recognize those four wonderful people: Jackson Carl Ritso, Cody Theodore Valentino, Leigha Heather Vancouver, and Minnie Jennifer Juniper." Daniel couldn't handle it anymore and stood up quickly and scurried out of the Great Hall. "Danny, wait!" Savannah cried after him, not caring if the whole Great Hall was staring at her now. She ran after him and followed him outside to the lake. He stood next to the lake, looking up at the beautiful moon and the bright, shining stars thinking about his wife...or his dead wife, as he thought about it haplessly. "Danny?" Savannah whispered, from a good distance behind him. "I never even had a chance to say good-bye," he said barely audible, on the verge of tears. Savannah had to step closer to hear him. "Oh, Danny," she said, rubbing his shoulders. "I mean, I saw her off at the airport and I watched her drift out of my sight thinking she'd be back in two and half months with a smile on her face, creating a smile on my face. I'd see how beautiful she was and how I couldn't wait to have her for the whole summer...instead, a month later, those thoughts came crashing down. I miss her...and I try to get over it, but every night I see her face in my dreams and I start trembling again. I'm trying to forget her...it's just not working." "Daniel, you don't have to forget her. She was your wife. But you do have to let go. You have so many more opportunities heading your way, and you're being tied down. It's not fair to you at all." Daniel sighed. "I know, Savannah." That took Savannah by surprise. "But then..." "Why do I still think about her all the time and why don't I do anything about it? Because I can't help who I love and unfortunately I can't help who dies. I can only help myself right now...and that's one person too many." "No, it's not," Savannah said. "You've got plenty of people who care about you and plenty of people who don't want to see you hurt." "I know, but those people scare me most. I mean, what happens if someone else close to me...dies?" "Don't think about that, Danny. Think about everything up to then. Do you want to go through life scared or do you want to go through like with a happy smile on and having fun?" "That's not the point, Savannah." "Do you know the point?" He turned to Savannah slowly and shook his head. "No, but I'm willing to find out." "And I'm willing to help you." "Savannah, I never told you this...in fact, I never told anyone this, but...well...I guess you could day that it's hard to let go because I'm not letting go of just her." "Huh?" "Two days before she left back for college, she told me she was pregnant," he said with a sigh. Savannah gasped. "Are you serious!?" He nodded, as a lump formed in his throat. "Yeah, and all I can think of now is that You-Know-Who took away my chance to have a child. My chance to be a father. And an even greater chance of being a better husband." Savannah had no idea what to say to him at that moment, and instead just walked over to him and gave him a long, gentle hug expressing how she felt and they ended up sitting out there talking for a good, long hour, not realizing it. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Fifty minutes after Dumbledore's speech, Sirius was off to the side after a talk with Remus, wondering where Savannah was. "Remus, where's Savannah? I've only dance with her four times tonight and I haven't talked to her much, either." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Sorry." "That's okay," he said. "Ask Lily. Or maybe James will know." He nodded as he walked over to Lily, who was talking to Allie and Josh. "Lily, where's Savannah?" Lily thought about it but ended up shaking her head. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her for a while." "Oh. Thanks anyway," he said with a grateful smile. "What about you guys?" Sirius asked Allie and Josh, who shook their heads. "Sorry, Si," Allie said. He glanced around the room, hoping for a glimpse of her, but when he couldn't find her still, he went to the corner near the exit door where James was with Avril. "Hey, James, have you seen Savannah lately?" James shook his head. "Nope, sorry. I haven't been noticing much tonight." "Except Lily," Sirius mumbled under his breath, turning around. "What?" James asked. "Oh, nothing," Sirius said sweetly, just as Kaitlynne entered through the main entrance. "Oh, hey Katyi. Have you seen Savannah?" "Oh, yeah. She's still outside with Daniel," she replied with a smile. Sirius stood there stunned, but said, "Okay, thanks." Savannah had to have been out there with Daniel for more than an hour! He couldn't believe that she'd rather talk to Daniel, than dance with him. He stormed outside to see Daniel and Savannah in a kind-hearted embrace. "Hey, I swear I know you from somewhere," Sirius said, pointing to Savannah. "Ugh, I just can't put my finger on it. Oh, wait!!! That's right, you're my girlfriend! Or I thought you were." Both Savannah and Daniel looked extremely confused, and Daniel stood up. "I think I'm going to go back inside," he said slowly. "Wait, Dan-"Savannah started. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea," Sirius said, cutting her off, so Daniel walked back inside with a confused look on his face. "Well, that was rude!" she immediately stated. "You should be talking!!" Sirius cried. "What!?" "Well, I've been looking for you for a while now and once I find you I see you with your arms around Daniel...the only guy you've been spending time with tonight!" "What are you talking about!? He just needed some support so I was giving it to him!" "I know, Vannie, but I haven't spoken to you practically all night," Sirius explained. "Just wait until your wife dies and then see how it feels, Sirius!!! He just needed a friend and guess what? I'm a friend!!!: "Well, you kinda forgot about your boyfriend, Vannie! You could've at least told me you were out here!" "Whoa, so now I have to check in every five minutes, father!" "Well, it would be nice to know where you are once and a while!" "Omigod!" Savannah cried. "I am not having this conversation with you, Si-Si!" "Yeah, well I'm having this conversation with you," he said. "I hate that when I come outside I find you talking to Daniel...no, make that hugging Daniel." "Do not take this out on him, Sirius Black! Just because you're jealous-" "Whoa, jealous? Why would I be jealous of him?" "Because I've been hanging out with him! You just said that!!" "No, maybe you're just being selfish! I wanted to have fun tonight! You know, chat, eat, dance, and just have fun...with you. But I've barely spoken a word to you all night. You've been spending too much time with Daniel!" "Just shut up about him!!" Savannah cried. "This isn't about him, it's about you!!" And she shoved right past him and stomped back into the Great Hall. She barely entered, when Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "How is this about me!?" Sirius cried, so that a quarter of the people in the Great Hall were turning their heads in their direction. "You're the one who doesn't seem to care!!" "I care plenty about you, but that doesn't mean I want you standing over me watching me when I'm hanging out with...friends!" "How would you like it if I spend the whole rest of the night with some other girl??" "Do whatever you want Sirius Black! If that's supposed to make me feel bad, go right ahead and try to prove me wrong!" she yelled, so now half of the people in the Great Hall were staring. "In fact, I would love you to do it because I would LOVE TO SEE YOU HUMILIATED!!!" she screamed and everyone was staring at them now. "FINE, MAYBE I WILL!" "FINE, SEE IF I GIVE A DAMN, SIRIUS BLACK! IN FACT, WHILE YOU'RE AT IT MAYBE YOU CAN THROW YOURSELF INTO A DUMPSTER AND MAKE MY JOB A LITTLE EASIER!" Savannah screamed, before whirling around and walking across the room towards Kaitlynne, Remus, Allie, and Josh in one corner, and she left a smirk on Sirius' satisfied face, who was walking towards Georgette Crimson. "Oooh, boy," Remus muttered from one side of the room. "Uh-oh," Lily mumbled, from another corner. "And yet another break-up," a grinning Snape muttered from behind Lily. "Shut up, Snape," Lily said, turning around. "Oooh, sticking up for you friends once again, I see. And this time no James Potter to bail you out." "I don't need anyone to bail me out. I need you to get out of my face." "Let's see...maybe I will...if you dance with me once." Lily was about to laugh in his face, but had a better idea. "Hmmm..." she pondered with a sweet, innocent smile. "I think I'd rather run over a goose in the woods, throw it into the mud, pluck all of his feathers out of his body, and then kiss it before I even touch that dance floor with you," she replied, spinning around and away from him. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Ugh! Lily, he's just being paranoid and stupid and...jealous," Savannah was explaining, not caring that Sirius was on the dance floor with Georgette, and has been for the past thirty minutes. "He just doesn't understand," Lily explained. "I know! And that's what annoys me most about him!!! Why doesn't he just trust me!?" "Guys really need to learn how to do that," Lily mumbled disgustingly, staring over at James. "Huh?" Savannah said, realizing she was staring at James. "Nothing," she said. "You know...you never actually told me what happened with you and James," she said slyly. Lily sighed. "This isn't about me." "I'm tired of talking about my problem. I don't care what Sirius thinks. He just needs to get over himself. Tomorrow morning maybe I'll find the chance to talk to him. Not right now, though, because we're both angry and I don't want to say anything we'll regret. So, let's talk about you for a moment." "James...er...he got jealous that I was hanging out with a bunch of Andy's guy friends the day after we all thought he had died." "Seriously???" she cried in disgust. "That's so stupid!! First of all, you didn't know he was dead and you weren't about to make-out with some other guy," she said, "...right?" Lily laughed. "Of course not, you dolt!" "Okay, and then second of all, I figure you just wanted to have a nice evening without thinking of him, anyway, right?" Lily laughed again. "You know me so well, Savannah." "Ugh, why are all guys jealous when their girlfriend hangs out with someone else!?" she cried frustrated. "I don't care if he hangs out you, or Kaitlynne, or Allie, or...or Georgette." "Yeah...why is he hanging out with her?" Lily wondered, glancing over where Sirius and Georgette were dancing together, smiling and laughing. Savannah rolled her eyes. "He thinks that I'll get jealous for ignoring me and for him hanging out with her all night because of the whole Daniel thing. He's trying to prove me wrong, and I think it's stupid. It's just all part of his dumb plan," Savannah explained, rolling her eyes again. Lily looked past Savannah at Sirius, and her eyes clouded over. "Um...was that part of his plan?" Lily asked nervously, pointing towards him. Savannah turned around and saw Georgette and Sirius on the dance floor, swaying to a slow song...and kissing................... Harry stepped out. So Sirius could be a dumb ass sometimes.
He started wondering why his father decided to become animagi. Sure to help Remus but it was probably because they were "Marauders." Then Harry opened a book with a certain mischievous grin.
~*~
The next day, Hermione and Ron noticed that Harry was even more worn out than usual.
"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.
"Nothing," said Harry blandly.
"Then why are you so tired all of a sudden?" said Hermione curiously.
"I...uhh...was up reading some books for ideas about...uhh...Voldemort," said Harry messing with his hair.
"Oh, well we could help you," said Hermione convinced.
"Well, you can't exactly..."
"Oh don't be silly Harry, we'll go down to the library right now won't we Ron," said Hermione eyeing him very strictly.
"But, but..."
"See you at lunch Harry," and she dragged Ron out to the library.
Hermione and Ron were busily looking through books.
"Hermione, I'm hungry, can't we take a break and say...go eat lunch?" pleaded Ron.
"In a little bit, just let me finish this book, I think I may have actually found something."
They heard snickers from behind.
"Malfoy."
"Weasel, mudblood."
"Just leave us alone Malfoy."
"You think your stupid spells are going to kill the Dark Lord?" spat Malfoy.
"What are you talking about?"
"Hah! Potty didn't even tell you, I'm sure he knows-"
"About what?"
"The prophecy."
"That broke-"
"You think that just because it was in the Department of Mysteries that know one knew what it said? Please mudblood I thought you were smarter than that, use your brains," said Malfoy walking away.
Hermione got angry and red in the face when Malfoy waltzed away.
"I have had enough of him," said Hermione furiously.
"Me too, I say we turn him into a ferret again and..."
"I'm talking about Harry, Ron. He never tells us anything anymore," said Hermione and she left to the common rooms.
Not know what to do, Ron went off to the Great Hall to find Harry. As soon as he sat down, Dumbledore silenced them.
"As you know, today is Halloween and tonight will be our Halloween dance starting sharply at seven. That is all."
Harry and Ron turned to each other and grinned, making everyone else at the table wonder what they were up to.
The rest of the day was boredom for the two, sitting through all of their classes. Finally, the end of the day came and they ran up to "get ready."
PLEASE READ BELOW!!! THANK YOU!!!
OH YES B4 I 4GET. OK IN THE LAST CHAPTER WHEN IT SAID ????? ALL OVER THE PLACE IS DID SAY SOMETHING BUT THE COMPUTER DIDN'T READ IT I GUESS BUT IS SAID: In honor of the greatest pranksters ever: The Marauders of Hogwarts: Moony, Prongs, and Padfoot.
Please tell me if this is good or not? R/R. Thanks! I don't have much time and I'm never home to go on the computer so sorry.
~*~
Harry woke up the next morning realizing where he was. He rolled over attempting to maybe catch a few more minutes of sleep when his eyes moved over to the clock. 9:00.
Harry jumped out of bed. His classes had already started. He changed his clothes and got his things and ran to the door, then came back and quickly picked up something off of his dresser and ran.
By the time he got to the classroom, it was half over but Harry went anyways because it was his favorite class and one of the only things he had forward to looking to all day. Remus had already written a lot on the board and the students were scribbling on their parchment, taking notes.
He opened the door and everyone looked up.
"So you have decided to join us Mr. Potter," said Remus.
Ron and Hermione gave him anxious looks as he approached them.
"Where were you?" whispered Hermione.
They looked and saw Remus staring and stopped talking.
When Remus turned around to write on the board again, Harry took out the tickets and put them on Ron's desk.
Ron cautiously looked over at them and his eyes widened. He picked them up in his trembling hands, speechless, mumbling words to Harry, when he fainted and fell back in his chair.
The whole class turned and looked at them.
"Oh my, what happened to Mr. Weasley? Does he need to go the hospital wing?" asked Remus.
"No, he's fine, just a bit of shock, that's all," said Harry smiling and helped Ron up.
Class was over and Hermione and Harry practically dragged Ron out of class.
"But...but..how?" stuttered Ron.
"Oh, an old friend sent them to me," said Harry as he and Hermione walked off to Potions.
~*~
They barely made it down to the dungeons because of Ron. They got seats in the back and waited for class to start.
"Well Mr. Potter I hope you enjoyed yourself last night," said Snape and the Gryffindors snickered.
"10 points from Gryffindor," said Snape and the laughter were now heard from the Slytherins.
"Now, begin," said Snape and the directions appeared on the board.
Harry reread the directions four times to make sure he did it right but it could not be as red as Hermione's, though better than the others that were pink.
Potions went by unusually quickly with out too many remarks from Snape. By the time Potions was over, Harry had managed to lose 40 points for Gryffindor, which weren't entirely his fault. Like it wasn't his fault that he had put the vile with his potion on the "wrong side" of this desk, whatever that meant. Harry was exhausted from having to go around and clean up the "messes" that he made.
As Hermione went off to dinner, Harry headed up to the common room to rest a while.
~*~
That night, Harry was practicing with his team about their new moves. He made them work very hard especially since Wood was coming. Harry was excited yet nervous at the same time and he could see it in his team as well. They practiced a bit more until 8:30 and then Harry let them go. He didn't want them all worked up. As he and Ron started putting back the Quidditch equipment, Ron started to speak.
"So Harry, excited?" asked Ron.
"Yes, are you?" said Harry.
"Bloody hell yea!" said Ron, which made Harry chuckle, "In the stadium, with all those people, even Bill and Charlie are coming to see us!"
"I know, I can't wait," said Harry and they started back towards that castle.
They went up to the common rooms to find Hermione, huddled over, knitting madly.
"My god Hermione, still going on about S.P.E.W." said Ron.
"YES Ron it there a problem with that," snapped Hermione.
"Well it's so stupid that you make those dumb hats," said Ron.
"Well, at least I do something," said Hermione angrily.
Harry sat down in the armchair next to the fire, attempting to read Quidditch Throughout the Ages.
"Well, none of those stupid elves are going to just quit and do as you say!" yelled Ron.
Other people were starting to get annoyed.
"How do you know, Dobby did!" screamed Hermione.
Harry couldn't take it anymore.
"Oh no, here you go with Dobby-"
"STOP!"
Everyone stopped moving and looked at Harry.
"My god stop bickering like an old married couple. You're not even going out yet and you know you like each other so would you just ask her out Ron so we can all have some peace!" yelled Harry and went up to his dormitory. He sat on this bed. Then he decided to take a ride on his broom.
He was soaring around the field, up over the lake. He could feel the wind hitting his face. He was up in the air. This is where he was free. He could be up in the sky forever, playing Quidditch. Maybe that's what he wanted to be, a Quidditch player, not an auror. That is, if he lived to do it. Of course, the stupid prophecy. He hadn't told anyone about it yet. He didn't know if he wanted to or not. He started slowly flying around the castle when he thought he heard someone call his name.
He turned around to see that he was at Dumbledore's office window and he was motioning for him to come in. he landed inside and plopped himself down on a chair. As Dumbledore went to close the window, Fawkes came over to greet him.
"Hello, Fawkes," said Harry as the bird landed on his knee.
"Ahh, I see you're on a midnight stroll Harry, or should I say midnight fly?" said Dumbledore sitting down.
"So Harry, I sense something is yet troubling you. What is it?" said Dumbledore.
"It's just that...well the...the..."
"The prophecy," said Dumbledore.
Harry lowered his head, as if in shame, and nodded.
"Obviously you have not told anyone about it yet?"
"No," said Harry, "I'm not sure how to or even if I should."
He suddenly lowered his voice as if in shame.
"But I don't want more people dieing because of me."
"Ahh yes, I see what you mean, but I think you should tell them when you are ready."
"But how?" asked Harry.
"This might become useful," said Dumbledore, handing his a glass ball.
"Is this the prophecy?" asked Harry.
"No, just a mere replica. When you open it, it will repeat the prophecy and show whom ever it is what I showed you."
Harry opened it.
A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size, behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but in the harsh, hoarse tones Harry had heard her use once before.
"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES.... BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT... AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES.... THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...."
"But just incase it falls into the wrong hands, it says Marvelo on it, not Voldemort," said Dumbledore.
"Thank you," said Harry and flew out of his office window.
That night in the Room of Requirement (Harry was in there quite often now), Harry was up looking at his photo album, the prophecy, and wondering about the Quidditch game tomorrow. He was excited. Everyone was going to be there. The Weasleys. Wood. The whole world would probably be there because of him. Harry Potter. He just wished for once he was a normal person. He yawned and looked at the clock. 2:00 am. That was the time he saw as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
~*~
That day, classes were cancelled and the entire school was going to the stadium. Though it may have seemed that I was a happy and joyful day, it wasn't for the Gryffindor Quidditch team because their captain and seeker was missing. Ron was panicking. They were leaving in half an hour to go to the stadium and he was nowhere to be found.
"He's going crazy," whispered Penelope Johnson as Ron paced around the room muttering to himself.
"We better find Harry, and quick," said Courtney Bell as Ron leaned against the wall, going crazy.
Jus then there was a knock at the door. Three figures walked in.
"Came to wish you good luck," said Charlie Weasley.
"So where's Ron?" asked Bill.
"Over there," pointed Colin.
The three of them walked over to a mental Ron.
"He's gone, he's just gone," said Ron.
"Who's gone?" asked Charlie.
"Harry," said Ron.
"What do you mean he's gone?" said Oliver Wood.
"We can't find him anywhere. What am I going to do," said Ron helplessly.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," said Charlie and the three walked out in search of Harry.
~*Meanwhile*~
Dobby happened to be cleaning today. He was dusting a portrait when someone came up to him.
"Hello, sir. I is Dobby."
"Yes well, hello Dobby. Do you know where I might find Harry Potter?' asked Wood.
"No, Dobby has not seen Harry Potter," said Dobby and started cleaning again.
"Well, thank you anyways," sand Wood and started to walk away.
"No sir, wait!" said Dobby.
"Dobby might know where Harry Potter is," said Dobby.
"Come, Dobby show you, sir," and Dobby led him to an unknown passageway.
"Umm, Dobby, was it? Where are we going?" said Wood.
"Ok we are here sir," said Dobby.
"Ok, now what?" asked Wood.
"Now you must wish to see Harry Potter, sir, and you will find him."
"What? But..."
"I must go sir. I hopes you find Harry Potter, sir. Goodbye," and with that, Dobby scurried off leaving behind a confused and bewildered Wood.
"Ok," thought Wood, closing his eyes, "Where is that Potter?" he said.
He opened his eyes and saw nothing.
"That bloody house elf, leading me to the middle of no where," said Wood and turned around to see a door.
He walked up, and opened the door, and quickly stepped in. There he saw Harry lying on his bed next to his broomstick and many books and papers. Wood smiled.
"Now that's what I call determined," said Wood laughing which made Harry suddenly wake up.
"Wood! What are you doing here?" asked Harry.
"Why, looking for you! The entire school has gone to the stadium, Ron i downstairs biting his fingers off and you're here sleeping. Come on then, lets go. Your team needs you!"
"Oh well, WOW I didn't know I had slept that long. Lets go them," said Harry and they started down towards the locker rooms.
"Harry!" yelled Ron.
"Where'd you find him?" asked Penelope.
"Sleeping next to his broomstick," said Wood and they all laughed.
"I'm not surprised, after Umbridge banned him last year," said Ron.
"What!" yelled everyone.
"Nothing, it's a long story," said Harry.
"Well, we better get going," said Bill.
"Good luck," said Charlie, "but you still can't beat me."
"See you Potter. The whole team's out there to watch you guys. Just show my seeker your stuff," said Wood.
Ron's eyes widened.
"Yyou mean that the WHOLE Chudley Cannons team is here to watch US?" said Ron.
"Yes," said Wood.
"Ok everyone LETS GO now I need their autographs, chop chop, I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY, lets go!" yelled Ron.
"Ron calm down, we'll—
"Harry, the WHOLE TEAM is sitting there and you want me to calm down? LETS GO!!" screamed Ron.
"Ok then, see you later," said Harry and they all got ready to go.
~*~
"Ok you guys, we're gonna go out there and just play our hardest. We'll squash those Slytherins!"
"Yea!" yelled his team back.
"Welcome to the Quidditch match at the World Cup Stadium. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Would everyone please be seated. Thank you. Now lets welcome the Slytherins..."
Harry and his team were anxious as they each waited for their names to be called out.
"...and now lets welcome our Gryffindors. Our Chasers, Penelope Johnson, Courtney Bell, and Ashley Spinnet."
Clapping came from the crowd. Harry looked in search of anyone he knew and quickly pointed out the Cannon to Ron, who nearly fainted.
"...Our beaters, Colin and Dennis Creevey."
"Look, you whole family," said Harry.
"...Our keeper, Ronald Weasley."
Harry saw all of the red heads stand up as they called out Ron's name and a firework from the one and only, Fred and George.
"...And last but not least, our team captain and seeker, Harry Potter."
Harry flew out and saw in amazement. The stands were full with people. The sound deafened his ears. He was even more fireworks in the air. He flew over to his spot in front of Malfoy.
"Good luck, Potter," spat Malfory, "You're going to need it."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Malfoy."
"The balls have been released and the Golden Snitch is out."
Harry soared up and watched as his team score goal after goal. Harry nearly missed a bludger flying towards his head. He had been standing there 15 minutes. He started flying around, waiting for the snitch to show itself.
He hovered above the rest of the game, watching Ron. Just then, the quaffle came rushing toward him and he was at the other hoop.
"Come on Ron, faster," muttered Harry to himself.
He could only see Ron as blur, rushing toward the other hoop, hoping to catch the quaffle in time.
Jut then Ron did the impossible. He knew he couldn't get there in time. It was just barely there and he made a decision. He let go of his broom and leaped for the ball, his leg barely dangling off the broom. The crowd cheered and then gasped at Ron, for he caught the edge of his broomstick, determined not to fall but couldn't hold on much longer and slipped.
"RON," yelled Harry and he zoomed down in a dive toward Ron. Ron, about to hit the ground with a thud when Harry barely grabbed his arm.
"Well know that was a close one. Did you see that? That is definitely Weasley blood in him, jut like Charlie. Go Gryffind-"
"WE ARE NOT TO BE TAKING SIDE, JUST ANNOUNCING," yelled McGonagall.
"That's another 10 points for Gryffindor. They are leading the Slytherins 110-30."
Just then, Harry saw a glint of gold and dove for it. Suddenly, Malfoy was at his side and was trying to push him off of his broomstick. He reached a little closer, determined to get it before Malfoy. He ducked down just in time to see Malfoy get hit by a bludger. Now it was all his. Just as he was about to grasp it, he felt something ram the back of his head and he flew forwards off of his broom into a spin, tumbling to the ground. He heard the crowd moan before he hit the ground, lying on his stomach. He had a sharp pain in his chest. He lay there for what seemed like hours for his throbbing head until he heard faint footsteps rushing to him and turn him over. He slightly opened his eyes and saw Dumbledore.
"Harry, are you ok?"
"Where have I seen this before? Oh, right, during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Who died because of me this time?" said Harry.
Dumbledore chuckled.
"So I'm guessing you're fine? You had quite a fall there."
"My head, and chest...what happened?"
"Crabbe hit you in the head with his bat when he saw that Malfoy was down," said Dumbledore.
"Harry, can you stand?" asked Dumbledore.
He nodded and stood up. He was walking back with Dumbledore when he felt something in his shirt. He stopped and looked down to see a small bump moving. Everyone had stopped talking and was staring at him. He quickly took it out and just stood there, grasping it in his hand.
"Harry, what is it?"
Slowly, Harry held up the Snitch between his two fingers and the crowd gasped.
"It seems that Harry Potter has caught the Snitch. Gryffindor wins!"
Screams and yells once more filled the stadium. Harry grinned. His team came down and hugged him.
The Cannons were cheering in amazement. They came down to congratulate him.
"Well done Harry," said a voice.
Harry turned around to see Wood. He smiled.
"Your team is amazing," said one of the players.
"I think I'm read to quit now," said someone else.
"Yes Harry, that is my seeker."
They all laughed.
"No I'm not joking, I quit," she said and everyone became silent.
"Harry, how would you like to be one of my reserve seekers?" said Wood.
Everyone stood there in shock and waited for Harry to reply.
"Well Harry, go on," said Ron breathlessly.
"I...I..." said Harry.
"Well," said Wood.
"I don't know, I guess..."
"YES!" yelled Ron, "I mean..."
They all laughed.
"Well the Harry, here you go, give it to me when you have decided. Come on everyone, lets go," and with that they all left. They all stood there, still in shock, when the Weasleys, Hermione, and some of the Order came up to them.
"Oh Harry are you ok? And Ron! Oh my..." said Mrs. Weasley hugging them both.
"Congratulations," said Kingsley.
"My Harry, you looked like James out there," said Remus.
"Not bad Potter, you too Weasley," said Moody.
"Yea Ron, we didn't know you were that good," said Charlie.
"Yea, not too bad bro," said Fred and George.
No one responded, they all just stood there. They all had puzzled and worried looks on their faces.
"Oh my, Ron what's wrong?" asked Bill.
"Harry, what's wrong," said Hermione.
"Harry," said Remus shaking him.
"What is it?"
"Wood, he...he..."stuttered Harry.
"What?" asked Kingsley.
"He asked me to be his seeker and play for the Cannons," said Harry, still dumbfounded, holding up the parchment for them to see.
They stood in silence for a moment.
"Well congratulations Harry, I'm so proud of you!" said Mrs. Weasley hugging him.
Everyone else congratulated him and they went to the locker rooms to change and go back.
After everyone had left, Harry and Ron sat there, still bewildered.
"So, you're actually going to do it?" asked Ron.
"Yea but," said Harry.
"I get to come to all of your games though right?' said Ron smiling.
"Of course," and they sat there in silence, dreaming about the wonders of Quidditch.
~*~
The next day was their trip to Hogsmeade. Harry didn't want to go but Hermione and Ron made him. As he was waiting for the other two to get ready, he took some time to rest and think. He was very tired but also had a lot to think about. Playing Quidditch. Should he do it? He was excited but he had other tings to worry about. One thing in particular. Voldemort. Which led his to another one of his many problems. The prophecy. When was he going to tell someone? Surely Dumbledore hadn't told anyone. But he didn't know how. He took out Dumbledore's version of the prophecy and studied it. So this is basically what had killed his parents. A stupid, old ball. Anger rose inside of him. He wanted to smash it to pieces, but knew it could bring nothing back. Not any of the deaths he caused. Or any of the pain.
He had always thought of just leaving, but where to go? He had nowhere to go, no family. He never had anywhere to go, any purpose of life. So why him? All of these things boggled his mind as he sat in the common room waiting for Ron and Hermione. He decided while at Hogsmeade, he would give Wood a visit. He picked up the parchment and his broom and hid them under his invisibility cloak, waiting for his friends. Finally, the two came down and they were off to Hogsmeade.
Though Harry went with them, it was all a blur to him because he was thinking too much. When they got back, Harry made up some excuse about finishing his essay in the library and went off to look in the pensieve. Harry went over to the pensieve and looked in.
Both Lily and Sirius sat there in complete shock. Lily's tears were already running down her face, and Sirius had his hands over his mouth in awe. "I-I can't believe it! Why? I mean...why???? Wh-why would he do such a thing!? Why!?" Lily hyperventilated in complete frustration. "There's no word to describe him...or what he's doing!" "That's because he takes pleasure in ruining innocent lives," Sirius said angrily. Lily sat there, mangling her hands and gripping on to the upholstery for dear life, making her knuckles as white as a ghosts. "This is absolutely terrible!" Sirius sighed, and sunk down into the couch depressingly. "I know...I know." "What are we watching? I mean, what channel is this?" she asked disturbingly. Sirius looked at her strangely. "Why does it matter?" "I want to know what other channels are saying about this," Lily said with a heavy sigh and a shrug. "It's Channel 406. But it doesn't really matter because it's on every wizardry channel." Lily sighed. "This can't be happening! This...This sucks! It's the worst timing, too! My birthday is this weekend!! This weekend is supposed to be the last time I'll get to hang out with you and all of my friends! And to top it all off, I'm supposed to be starting my job next week!!!! Why did this have to happen now!?" Lily sobbed. "I know I should be a little less selfish, but it's hard when I find out this son-of-a-bitch is ruining everything! Sirius walked over to her and gave her a hug. "Shhh, Lily. It's going to be okay. Shhh, you're going to be fine." Lily sobbed into his chest. "What if they got James?? I'll have no way of knowing, if I can't write him or see him or talk to him!" Sirius turned back towards the television. "Watch the screen. Maybe You-Know-Who didn't hit James' school." Lily turned her head back to the television as a bunch of colleges were listed. "Scandinavia Priddetin Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry Lebanon Academy for the Special Arts and Dark Arts Freragon Elementary for History of Magic Lebanon University for Witchcraft and Wizardry Luxembourgoise College for Dark Art Wizardry Badigeonnage Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry Beauxbatons École pour Sorcellerie et Sorcier Genése Université pour les Histoire des Arts Petite Lyceé pour Sorcellerie et Sorcier Durmstrang Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry Turkoff University of Fine Arts Klemmington College of Witchcraft and Wizardry Graham Arts University of Witches Dolly Juniper University for Witchcraft and Wizardry Dark Art Academy of England Artemis Leonard Ministry of Magic Academy Tatty Cathy Veranda University of Witchcraft and Wizardry Dark Art University of the British Kingdom London Arts University of Witchcraft and Wizardry Marmalades Academy for Wizards-" "Holy fuck," Sirius whispered as he watched the school that he worked at go by on the screen. Lily groaned as she squeezed Sirius' shoulder. The school that Sirius worked at wasn't widely known and she knew now that if Voldemort attacked his school that James' school must have been attacked, but she tried being hopeful. "British Kingdom College for Dark Art Magic Queen Elizabeth Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry King Louis Elementary for Dark Art Magic Dollywood University of Auror Ministry London University for Dark Art Magic-" "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lily screamed as she saw James' school pass them by on the screen. "Oh, no," Sirius grumbled, as he wrapped his arms around Lily's neck as she fell into his arms and sobbed into his chest for the next five minutes as about another hundred schools went by. By this time, Lily was in tears and even Sirius had tears brimming in his eyelids. The tears were all mostly about James, but also about the three hundred people who had died due to an innocent act of playful magic from Voldemort. They didn't say anything to each other until Sirius saw another dreaded school he hadn't thought about until it was being put up on the screen. "Montreal Arts University for Witchcraft and Wizardry -" "NOOOOOO!" Sirius cried slamming his hand against the wall and making the paintings shake. "What, what?" Lily cried, still weeping. "Vannie," he whispered, letting the tears fall even more down his face as he wept for his girlfriend, praying that she was still alive somewhere. "Screw Voldemort. He's a worthless, no-good, low-life bastard who deserves to be shot twice," Lily cursed. Sirius looked down at her. "Wow, Lily. I've never heard you speak like that." Lily cracked a smile. "Yeah, well once someone messes with my boyfriend and my best friend he becomes top priority on my bitching out list." Sirius gave her a weak smile before thinking of Savannah again just as Lily sat and thought about James. Lily stared at the television motionless. It just wasn't fair. She had no idea where he was, who he was with, what he was doing, when his school was hit, how he was doing...it was just a jumble right now. But it was the worst feeling ever...and there was nothing she could do about it. *~*~*~*~* Considering they weren't allowed to go anywhere, Sirius and Lily often sat around their living room watching the television minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day together wrapped up in each other's arms having nothing but each other's security and calmness to make sure neither one of them would go crazy or into hysterics. By Thursday morning there was no sign of a let up of the lock-down and Sirius and Lily had walked out of the house twice. Once to walk into town to the grocery store, which they found was closed. Actually, all of the stores were closed and there was no sign of life on their main street. The second time was when all of the neighbors had met in front of a house to talk things over and Sirius and Lily stepped out to see what was going on. Eventually, Sirius and Lily invited them all in to sit around and watch their television and just talk about everything that has been happening. On Thursday night, June Yingling, Paul Yingling, Tessa Yingling, Karolyna Gertrude, Reese Gertrude, Zach Ryanson, Kailynn Suaven, Devon Suaven, Isabella Suaven, Daniella Suaven, Steve Suaven, Jillie Verne, Luke Wingo, Henry Wingo, Stephanie Wingo, and Rain Hunter were all sitting in Sirius' and Lily's living room. June, Kailynn, Devon and Isabella were all younger than eleven. Paul, Tessa, Zach, Daniella, Steve, Henry, Stephanie, and Rain were all thirty-five years old or older. Karolyna, Reese, Luke, Jillie were about the same age as Lily and Sirius. "I don't know what to do. I mean, in reality, I can't do anything," Tessa Yingling was complaining about her son at a Canadian college. "My son is off at college that was unfortunately attacked yesterday morning and I don't know if he's okay or not. Shouldn't a mother have a right to know whether or not her family is alive??" "I want to tell you that I'm sure David is fine, but unfortunately I don't even know if my Yvette and Zara are okay and before I know they're okay, I'm not certain of anything," Rain said, talking about her nineteen-year-old twin girls both in Scandinavian colleges. "None of us are certain of anything," Lily pointed out. "Or at least I'm not certain of anything. I mean as much fun as sitting here talking with my neighbors is, I'd much rather be out there getting information about this damn tragedy and how my friends are doing!" "A friend of ours was supposed to be arriving here yesterday from a Canadian college and now because of this pathetic lock-down, we have no idea how to reach her," Sirius explained. "I was so excited to finally see my cousins this weekend and now they obviously can't come," Isabella remarked, who was seven-years-old. Steve smiled and patted his daughter on the arm. "Yeah, and I just wish I could contact Hanna at Hogwarts. And even though Hogwarts is the safest school especially with Dumbledore and I trust him and his school and his protection and I know Voldemort would never bother even touching that school, I just wish I could owl her and tell her that the family is okay. Unfortunately, I can't do that." "None of us can," Jillie said with a sigh, thinking about Davie, her fiancé who was in Australia at the moment studying to go into the medical business, and he was a muggle but he already knew about Jillie being a witch. They all sat in silence for a few seconds before Kailynn, a six- year-old interrupted. "Mom, when are we going to the toy store? You said you'd bring me if I finished my book and I finished last night," she said. Daniella smiled at her blonde, curly-haired daughter. "Honey, remember I told you last night that we can't go anywhere because a very bad magical man is unfortunately keeping us at home." "Oh," Kailynn responded. "Then can we go next week?" "Maybe," Daniella answered, picking her up and putting Kailynn on her lap. Lily watched Daniella with Kailynn and realized that she that there were thousands of people who were probably worse off than her. She was lucky to be with Sirius, one of her best friends, at this time of need. There were thousands of little kids probably whining and crying about being stuck in the house the whole time. There were thousands of little babies who were hard to handle in a time like this. Then there were the families who had no idea where their children were and if they were okay or not. Then there were people like her who had loved ones missing. Sirius glanced over at Lily, who was biting her lip and obviously thinking about something depressing, most likely James. Sirius sighed and patted Lily's arm to show his support and concern. 'It's gonna be okay,' Sirius mouthed to her, and Lily couldn't help but give him a tiny sideways grin. Luckily, Lily had a friend who was keeping her levelheaded. *~*~*~*~* Friday night into Saturday morning, Lily couldn't sleep a wink. Savannah was already supposed to be there and Remus and James were supposed to be arriving early Saturday morning and Peter, Allie, and Kaitlynne were supposed to be arriving Saturday night. She just wanted a good birthday this year, especially since it was supposedly her last in England and instead it was ruined by Voldemort's idea of fun. Lily knew that she wouldn't be able to see any of them before she left for California...whenever that was going to be. She tried to keep the thought of James or Savannah...not alive out of her mind and focused on them being safe and sound surrounded by their friends at college. "SURPRISE!" someone cried early Saturday morning. "AGH!" Lily cried, practically leaping out of bed. "SIRIUS! What are you doing in my room at six-thirty in the morning!?" "You were born at six twenty-eight in the morning of this day. Happy birthday, Lily," Sirius said with breakfast...or what looked like breakfast on a tray. Lily grinned wide. "Oh, my God, Sirius! That has got to be the sweetest thing that you've ever done for me!" Sirius grinned. "Don't get used to it," he joked. "I wanted to give you a happy birthday when it seems as if I'll be the only one here on it this year. I wanted it to be special." "Awww, Sirius," she cooed. "Thank you so much," she said, walking over to him to give him a hug. "Oh, jeez. Did you actually cook breakfast?" "Uh...I tried? Okay, okay, so it may have been better with some magic. Unfortunately, I can't do that!!!" he cried laughing. "Are you actually going to make me eat that?" "What? Don't you like it?" "No!" she cried and they both laughed. "But just for you, I'll eat it anyway." "YAY!" he cried laughing, and leaving the room. "Thanks again!" she cried, as he walked out of the room. "AND THE KITCHEN BETTER BE CLEAN WHEN I GET DOWN THERE!!" Sirius popped his head back in. "Could you give me a...uh...two- hour headstart before you come down?" he asked with an innocent face on. He hesitated before continuing. "No, better yet a two-year headstart?" Lily laughed. "Just go," she said with a laugh. *~*~*~*~* About twenty minutes later, she trudged down the stairs to find Sirius in front of the television without the kitchen cleaned. "Sirius, how is that clean?" she asked pointing to the messy kitchen. "SHHHH!" he said waving her to be quiet. "What?" she said, walking over to the television. "They think that Voldemort has backed off and gone back towards Antarctica." "What?" "It's where he was before all of this, planning it all out," Sirius explained. "Oh. Does that mean the lock-down is over?" "No, not yet. He hasn't struck anywhere in over eleven hours, which may mean he's either finally retreated or it's all part of his damn plan. No one can be sure and they're not calling off the lock-down yet. They haven't found him yet so they're not sure about anything. Two death- eaters were found, but they refused to give any information so an Auror killed them right there on the spot instead of bringing them to Azkaban. But that Auror was fired soon after for being irresponsible. Heck, I would've killed him too!" Lily sighed. "This sucks, Sirius. This is the worst birthday ever. Voldemort is keeping everyone in their damn houses by killing off innocent people just because he thinks it's fun, I don't know what's going to happen with me job, and to top it all off, I don't even know if my boyfriend and my best friend are okay!" "But the breakfast made up for some of that, right?" Sirius asked, patting her arm. Lily laughed. "Of course, Si." "I'm sorry, Lily-bean. I-" "What did you call me?" Lily asked curiously. "Er...Lily-bean?" Lily looked at him adoringly and embraced him unexpectedly. "You haven't called me that in nearly five years." Sirius blushed, but smiled at her. "I know...but it just fits today." Lily nodded. "I know," she said thankfully. "What were you saying?" Sirius hesitated, and then sighed before continuing. "I really don't know what else to say at the moment. It's hard to say much of anything. I just wish that there could be some good news soon. I just don't know when that will happen." "Don't be sorry, Sirius," she started, taking a seat next to him on the couch, as Sirius stroked her back soothingly. "It's not your fault that this whole damn thing is happening. I just wish that I could do something to help anyone, but I'm stuck here for God-knows-how-long." "I feel the same way, Lily," Sirius said with a long, drawled- out sigh. "Believe me...I feel the same way." *~*~*~*~* For the rest of the day, Lily and Sirius sat on the couch together under a blanket just watching the news, watching movies, playing board games, playing card games, talking, and surprisingly having fun. Even though it wasn't the perfect birthday that Lily had planned, it wasn't a terrible one like she thought it would be. "Sirius?" Lily asked from the living room to Sirius who has been in the kitchen for the past forty minutes. "What are you doing in there!?" "Nothing! Don't come in!" he cried laughing. She sighed and turned back to the Channel 406 news. Unfortunately, the suspicion of Voldemort backing off was not correct and he had hit fourteen schools in Vienna, Austria and Juniper, Austria that afternoon in just forty minutes. Unfortunately, Voldemort had also been seen wandering from town to town killing off certain people in the streets, as well, mostly in Austria, and was now heading back to London. The tragedy is just getting worse and the lock-down looked as if it wasn't going to be let up anytime soon. "Sirius, he's back in London!" Lily cried with a worried face as she repeated what the news reporter was telling her. "Calm down, Lily!! Stop worrying for now and come in here!" Lily sighed and turned off the television and walked into the kitchen. "Surprise!" Sirius cried. Lily gasped. In front of her was a table with two glowing candles and two china plates, a bottle of champagne, and tiny wrapped box sitting next to her empty plate. "Well, well, well. If you weren't Sirius Black, then I might actually think that you could be romantic!" He laughed. "I know I'm not James or anything and it's not the perfect, romantic, birthday dinner you were planning on having with James and today's not the perfect day that you wanted for your birthday, but you deserve a very happy birthday, Lily," he explained. "You don't turn twenty- two every year." Tears sprang to her eyes with happiness. She did not expect anything from Sirius that night except a birthday hug or whatnot. And he was right, it wasn't the perfect, romantic birthday dinner with James...it was the perfect birthday dinner with Sirius. "Awww...Sirius, you may not be James, but you're doing a very good job of making this a happy birthday," she said, walking over to him to give him a hug. He kissed her on the cheek, and pulled out her seat for her. "Thanks for accompanying me on this wonderful evening, m'lady," he said laughing. "Okay, now please tell me you didn't cook dinner!" Lily said with a grin. "No, you got lucky tonight," he said, laughing. "Although, it's not going to be a...romantic dinner or anything either." "What's for dinner?" she asked curiously. "Uh...pizza?" he said, pulling out the boxes that were underneath the table. Lily burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "Oh....my...God..." she said, in between laughs. "Sirius, you're the best roommate a girl could ever ask for!" she cried out, grabbing a piece of pizza. "Now sit down and eat," she said grinning. "Well, I can't resist an order." "No you just can't resist food," Lily said laughing. "How about you just open my gift?" Sirius suggested, changing the subject. "Actually, it's mine and Vannie's gift, but I don't care if she didn't want you to open it without her here. Because it's your birthday and you should get at least one gift today." "Sounds good to me," she said laughing. She picked up the tiny box and took off the ribbon and the bow. She unwrapped the sparkling silver paper, and finally opened the box. Inside was a white-silver necklace with a lily in the center. She gasped. "Oh, Sirius!" He grinned. "I saw you looking at it in the jewelry store in Hogsmeade last month and I knew it would be perfect. Savannah and I both agreed on buying it and we bought it together when she was here over Easter break." "Oh, Sirius, this is so beautiful! I...I don't really know what to say except thank you so much and I can't thank you enough." "There's more to it, though," he said slowly. "Oh? What do you mean?" "Whenever a loved one is in danger and is crying for your help, the lily glows a yellowish-orangish color to warn you." "What do you mean by loved one? Friends, family, husband or wife, or just...boyfriend? " she asked, specifically speaking about James. "Well...mostly family, or husband or whatnot, but it only glows when your boyfriend is in trouble if you really love him and you would go for the end of the earth for him...at least that's what the jeweler told me. I figured it would be perfect for you and James." Lily grinned up at him. "It is. Thank you again and-"she said, wrapping it around her neck, but she was too busy looking at the necklace to finish her sentence. Sirius noticed it also. "Oh no," he muttered as they both watched it start to glow. Lily looked up at Sirius with fear and panic in her eyes and started breathing heavily. "Oh, my, God. I don't like this at all, Sirius." "I bet James is just out there slamming his fist into the wall wanting to send you a goddamn letter or call you or something." "That's not danger." "Yeah, but it's extreme love...and that's danger enough," Sirius teased, laughing. Lily cracked a smile. "You were always the one who made everyone laugh, Sirius." "I know," he replied, and they both laughed, trying to get their minds off the necklace. *~*~*~*~* Two days later, Lily was freaking out. The necklace was still glowing and she wasn't sure of what to do about her job in America. At about one o'clock in the afternoon, Sirius noticed that the necklace stopped glowing and was about to say something, but the phone rang. Sirius and Lily looked up at each other in confusion. They both knew that the only people who could reach them were the ministry or a muggle. Now, considering neither one of them really knew any Muggles, besides Petunia who Lily doubted was calling her, they both were thinking the same thing: that maybe the ministry was calling them to give them bad news. "Oh, shit," Sirius muttered. Lily drew in a breath, before picking up the receiver. "Hello?" she said softly. "Lily!? IS THAT YOU!?" the person on the other end shrieked, obviously with happiness. "Uh...yeah. Who is this?" she asked calmly. "It's me, Savannah!!" she cried. "WHAT!?" she screamed, which was definitely freaking Sirius out who had no idea who she was talking to. "Aren't you listening to the radio or watching the television?? The lock-down is over!" Lily shrieked with happiness and started jumping up and down, yet again freaking Sirius out...but in a good way. "Are you fuckin' kidding me!?" Savannah laughed at what Lily said just as Sirius literally ran over to her and pulled on the cord of Lily's telephone like a five-year- old. "Not at all!" Savannah cried. "The ministry and the Aurors at Sir Sephilia's office and Sir Friedburgh's office, in Scandinavia, tracked down you-Know-Who in Egypt today and sent him crawling back to Antarctica. Unfortunately when they went to go look for him, he wasn't there and instead they realized he had drifted back to somewhere in Russia where he'll remain until he can get his strength back which will probably won't be for another ten years or so. He's practically powerless and has disappeared!" "I-I can't believe it. This is totally amazing! I was waiting for this moment this whole damn week!" Lily cried. Sirius was giving her weird looks, wondering why she was so ecstatic, but Lily waved him off. "I know!!! I immediately picked up the phone once I heard to see if they were working, and sure enough the lock-down is officially over!! I just wanted to call you guys to make sure you guys were okay and to tell you that...well, I'm fine." "Are you positive? I heard you're school was on his list." Sirius was obviously about to kill himself with suspension, but Lily turned around while chuckling at him. There was a long pause on Savannah's side of the phone and Lily was about to ask her if she was still there, but Savannah finally spoke. "We were hit." "Oh, no. What happened?" Lily asked, before mentally hitting herself. "No, that was a dumb question." "No, it's okay," Savannah said sighing. "It just all seems...well, unreal to me. I still can't believe he was just here last week. In fact...well, my roommate here was a victim and if I wasn't at lunch at the time, I would've been a victim too. It scares me, Lily. But what scares me most is that I saw him. I saw him killing people that I knew! People that I had just talked to moments before. People that were my best friends there!! My choral director—the best damn professor I've ever had—had died right in front of my own eyes. I watched him suffer and knowing that I couldn't do anything to help him or anyone else freaks me out even more. It all completely freaked me out, Lily, and if I wasn't able to sneak out the back door and into the parking lot where I hid underneath cars with hundreds of other students and staff, I could've died, also. It just scares me that I was so close to dying." "Oh, don't say that. It doesn't matter because you're fine. And...I'm sorry. I-I don't really know what else to say because I wasn't there, but it must have been terrible. I can't tell you how it feels, but I'm just glad you weren't one of his victims," Lily soothed. "Who's on the phone?" Sirius whispered, but Lily shooed him away. "I know...so am I. Well, listen, I've got to go. They're having an assembly in two minutes and I've got to be there. I wish I could talk more, but if I'm late, then I won't get my degree until the summer, and I do not feel like spending my time here." "I understand," Lily said with a sigh of relief. "God, I wish I could talk to SI-Si now, but I really can't. Tell Si-Si I miss him and that I wish I could talk to him now but I'll call back later tonight. I love you, Lily! Bye for now!" "Bye, hon. I'll talk to you later." Lily put back the receiver in its cradle and leaned against the wall and slouched down to the floor, trying to hide her ecstaticness. "Oh, wow." "Okay, who was that?" Sirius demanded to know, slouching against the kitchen floor next to her. "You will never believe who that was. You'll never guess who had just called me," Lily said amazingly still in non-belief. "Big Bird!" he cried cracking a smile. "Someone a thousand times better than Big Bird." "Oscar the grouch?" Lily laughed. "No, you dolt! Even better." "Okay, now I know that's not possible." Lily laughed. "What about Savannah? Is she any better than Oscar?" "VANNIE!?!?!" Sirius screamed. "Yeah...I guess she's a little better than Oscar." Lily laughed as Sirius continued. "Wait...how did she call??" "The lock-down is over," Lily started, as she began the whole story of the lock-down being over and what Savannah said about her school and the deaths there. "And she says she misses you and she'll call you later." "Oh, wow. I can't believe it's finally over. I thought it would be a lot longer than this. I'm just glad the ministry could've stopped him," Sirius said, suddenly freezing in place. "Uh-oh," he muttered. "Uh-oh what? What happened?" Lily asked with worry. "Um...you said that the Aurors at Sir Sephilia's office were tracking Voldemort down, right?" "Yeah...so?" Sirius sighed again. "Oh, no." "'Oh, no' what?" Lily asked curiously. "Uh..." "Sirius Black, you better tell me what's wrong this instant or I might have to hurt you." Sirius sighed. "I don't think he ever told you this—probably just forgot or something—but...uh...well, James got the job working in his office." Lily sat there gaping at Sirius as the breath was suddenly sucked out of her. She sat there breathing heavily as the tears started filling up her eyelids. "Oh, God." "I'm sure he's fine. Since he's just a beginner there, maybe he didn't even go with them. He's just begun his training." But Lily wasn't thinking about that. She was thinking about the necklace. "Sirius, when the lily stops glowing, what do you think that means?" Sirius had to stop and think about what she was saying at the moment, confused of why she changed the subject. "Um...he's no longer in danger of course." Lily nodded. "But...but what if it means something else...something worse?" "Like what? And please to God don't say death, Lily Marie Evans. You and I both know that James is too damn strong and brave to have been killed by Voldemort in his first month of working with the Auror business." Lily nodded. "You're right, Sirius. I'm...I'm just being paranoid," she explained, but unfortunately she couldn't help but be paranoid. She knew Sirius was just trying to comfort her, but a voice in the back of her mind was still telling her that James could still be out there...needing her right at the moment. Three hours later, they still hadn't heard from James...or Remus, Kaitlynne, Allie, or Peter at that matter. And unfortunately, Lily could not worry about them anymore, because she was going through with the move to California. She didn't want to move to America at the moment, but Douglas Cowing had called her later that afternoon to explain the situation and he ended up making a decision that because the lock-down had substantially been officially over for four hours, that the move and the job shall still proceed because the flight was nonrefundable...besides, he claimed, Lily wouldn't even have to start her job until Wednesday. Lily sat on the floor with a picture of her and James in one hand and a picture of Hogwarts graduation with all eight of them packed together tightly to fit in the picture. Lily sighed, not realizing Sirius was standing behind her as a tear fell down her cheeks and onto the picture of her and James. "Lily," he said again this time putting his hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little and wiped away the tears quickly. "Oh, hey Sirius." Sirius sighed. "Lily, everything's going to be okay. I'm sure that James is fine and that he's just busy with all of the finishing touches he has to do with the whole Auror business." "I'm not worried about that as much as I am about moving," Lily confessed. "What do you mean?" "It's just that...well, once I move, I realize that everything is going to be exactly how it was the past week. And I'm afraid that it's just going to bring us all farther apart." "That's not going to happen unless you want it to happen, Lils." "How do you know?" "Because I'm not going to let it happen." Lily smiled and put the two picture frames on top of her other things in her suitcase. "Okay, fine. Let's just get this over with." Sirius laughed. "Are you all packed?" "I think so," she said, scanning the room. "No, wait." "What?" "Can I pack you with me?" Sirius laughed. "No, I'm afraid not." "Then, yeah, I'm all packed," she said, sighing. Time, sometimes the time just slips away And you're left with yesterday Left with memories I'll always think of you and smile And be happy for the time I had you with me Though we go our separate ways I won't forget so don't forget the memories we made Sirius gave her a reassuring smile and gave her a short, but sweet, hug. "Lily, you're going to be an amazing publisher and you're going to have a great time in California. Don't worry about anything else but that, okay?" "But-" "No, no buts." "But-" "Okay, you obviously aren't listening to me." "However-" "Hey! That's just a fancy but!" "Sirius-" "Okay, I know you're just going to try to make a point, but don't." Lily sighed. "Fine." "HEY!!!" "What?" she cried alarmed. "I don't know, I just felt like yelling." Lily laughed. "Sirius, I'm never going to find anyone else in America who can make me laugh as much as you can." "Okay, don't you know yet that there is no one in the whole world who is funnier than me?" "Just funny? Or funny-looking?" "Things are going to be so different without you around," Sirius confessed. "A.k.a. no dinner?" Sirius laughed. "I'm being serious, Lily." She gasped. "Oh no!! Alert the media!!!" Sirius gave her an exasperated look. Lily felt a bit guilty. "I'm sorry. I-I just don't want to think about it." "I know but I'm really going to miss you, Lily." "I'm going to miss you more," she teased. "You can't forget me, either," he warned. "I'd never forget you," Lily replied. "You were the best roommate a girl could ask for." Sirius blushed. "Thanks." Please remember, please remember I was there for you And you were there for me Please remember, our time together The time was yours and mine While we were wild and free "You always have to remember me, Sirius. And not just me as a roommate, but me as a person. I know we'll see each other, but it won't be the same. I won't be coming home to a place where I know I can count on cracking a smile. I won't be coming home to a place where I know will still be dirty unless you became so incredibly bored that you decided to dust the furniture...which happened once in a full moon. Thanks Sirius...for everything," she whispered. "No, thank you for making me who I am today. If you weren't my roommate, I'd be a totally different person. Thanks," Sirius whispered again, giving her a small, gentle hug, trying not to let the tears gathering up in the back of his eyes be noticed. Lily squeezed him tighter as a tiny tear fell down her cheek helplessly. Sirius smiled at her, and swiped his eyes lightly "C'mon, we need to go, or else you're going to be late." "I'll be right down, Si," Lily said taking another glance around the room as Sirius grabbed two of her suitcases and started to bring them downstairs. Lily sat down in the empty room looking at her bed that was just a mattress at the moment, up to her desk that was a just a piece of wood with a chair in front of it towards her two wooden dressers that were completely cleared off and empty and her closet which was just two white doors, one half-open to reveal nothing but dust. Good-bye, there's just no sadder word to say And it's sad to walk away With just memories Who's to know what might have been We'll leave behind a life and time I'll never know again She tried not to make leaving a big deal, but she couldn't help but sniffle and cry a little. I mean, her bedroom has been her home for the past three years. The room gave her many memories that she'll never forget. The room was there when she needed to be alone. The room was there when she needed a quiet place to read and rest. The room was there when she needed a cozy place to bring her friends. The room was there when she and James, or she and Savannah, or she and Remus, or she and Sirius needed some privacy away from the rest of the world. The room was there when she needed to get the anger off of her chest. The room was there when she needed comfort. The room was there when she simply needed a place where she could cry her eyes out until she thought that there were no more tears inside of her. The room was where she belonged. And then there was her house that belonged to her and Sirius for the last three years. The house that was now just Sirius' and the house that she'd be leaving for God-knows-how-long. The house where she could truly call home...up until now. She descended down the stairs with her last suitcases and two big bags full of her stuff in her hands and her purse slung over her arm as she simply took one good look around, making it seem as if she'd never return again, even though she knew she'd be returning to celebrate Kaitlynne's birthday on August 3, and maybe even for a visit beforehand if she wasn't too busy. And how we laugh and how we smile And how this friendship was yours and mine And how a dream was out of reach I stood by you, you stood by me We took each day and made it shine We wrote our names across the sky We ride so fast, we ride so free And I knew that you cared for me She walked towards the door where Sirius stood with a supportive smile on his face, taking the suitcase under his arms and one of the bags in his other arm as Lily turned around to face the house for one last look until next time. She felt Sirius' hand on her neck, soothing her, but it just made her want to cry even more. She sighed for the millionth time that evening and threw the last bag into the car. She just wish that she could have apparated to California or gone by broomstick to make it quicker and to help ease the pain, but unfortunately she had too many bags and the arrangements were already made at the airport. Lily was about to climb into the car when both she and Sirius heard the telephone ring. They looked at each other and Lily cried, "We have to get that!" "But what if you miss your flight? You-" "I DON'T CARE! I'M ANSWERING THE DAMN PHONE!" Lily cried laughing as she dropped her purse, screaming "Alohomora!" towards the house lock, and scrambled for the kitchen telephone, completely out of breath. "Uh...hello?" "Bonjour? Mademoiselle Mona? Comment ca va!? C'est moi, Monsieur Gaston! Sont-elle-" Lily sighed as more tears sprang to her eyes. "I don't speak French!!" she said crossly. "You've got the wrong damn number," she cried, yelling at the person on the other line slamming down the receiver, when she knew it wasn't fair. She was just angry that it wasn't James, Remus, Kaitlynne, Allie, or Peter. "A little harsh, don't you think?" Sirius asked with a grin. "Easy for you to say. Your girlfriend already called," Lily said, not trying to sound so mean, slumping down towards the floor. "Lily, I-" "Let's just go," Lily said, standing up and walking out towards the car. Sirius waited and watched her go out and sit in the car staring at the street the whole time before he walked out and got into the driver's side. But he didn't put the keys in. He turned towards Lily, who turned away and looked back at the house. "Lily, please just-" "Sirius, I just..." she started full of sorrow. She sighed before continuing. "I just don't want to think about it." "Think about what?" "I don't want to think about James or America or my job or You- Know-Who or the lock-down or whatnot. I just want a nice, peaceful drive to the airport as if I was going on vacation or something. I'm just tired of everyone being sympathetic or unhappy or angry around here. I don't want that and I sure don't need it. Please, Sirius, just drive." Sirius hesitated before nodding and granting her wish. He put the keys in the ignition and started out of the driveway. "Good-bye Alphamstone," she whispered so Sirius couldn't hear her. "Good-bye...home." And even though she tried to get him out of her head, James was the only thing she cared about right at that moment. Halfway 'round the world Doesn't stop me from loving you Halfway 'round the world Can't keep me from feeling the way I do I want to hold you baby 'Cuz I'm gonna miss you like crazy Even if I'm halfway 'round the world *~*~*~*~* "Um...do I know you?" Andy said, answering the door Tuesday night to a stranger. "Um...does Lily Evans live here?" Andy nodded. "Yeah, she lives here. And who are you?" "I'm Remus. I-" "Remus!!" Lily cried, coming to the door to give her visitor a hug. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so glad to see you!" Remus grinned, and embraced her tightly. "I know. I'm really glad to see you, too, Lily. It feels like it has been forever." Lily nodded. "I know." "Happy Birthday, by the way." "Aww, thanks," Lily said, giving a quick kiss on the cheeks. "So, how'd you find me here!?" Remus laughed. "Kaitlynne told me." "What? Kaitlynne?" "Yeah. She and I were stuck together during the lock-down." "What?? Why were you two together?" Lily asked suspiciously. He laughed. "I was at her hotel last week after finishing an early lunch with her when we heard the news." "Why didn't you call us yesterday!?" "Because I went back to my place to see if Peter was there, which he wasn't, so we went to Allie's for a little while...and we ended up staying the night," he said sighing. "You don't sound so happy about that." "I'm not," he said sadly. "Oh, no. What happened?" "Josh." Lily gasped. "What happened!?!?" "We don't know. He goes to London Arts University of Witchcraft and Wizardry which was unfortunately struck by You-Know-Who and Allie hasn't heard anything from him since the lock-down." "Oh, no," Lily said full of desperation. "Is she okay?" "Not really." "I wish I could do something..." "But your job starts tomorrow, right?" "Yeah," she said glumly. "It's alright. I just wanted to tell you. If you can, try to get to Allie's on the weekend or something if we haven't heard from him. She'd appreciate all the support she can get and I'll keep in touch." "What else have you heard?" "Well, actually Minnie Juniper, remember her?" "Yeah," Lily said. "Uh-oh. What happened with her?" Remus chuckled. "Nothing yet, but she goes to the same school as Josh." "Oh, no." "Yeah, I think Kaitlynne or Allie are going to try to get in touch with Daniel and see what's going on with that." "Okay." "Yeah, so that's all I know." Lily nodded again. "Hold on...why'd you come here, though? Why not Alphamstone?" "I did at first and I thought you'd still be there, but when I went looking for you and Sirius this afternoon, I found an empty house...literally. Sirius wasn't there and neither was any of your stuff. So I figured you'd be here. And Kaitlynne gave me this address last week so I decided to come here instead." Lily nodded. "What about Sirius? Where was he?" Remus laughed. "Funny story actually. I went back to my apartment to see if Peter was back yet and there he was...with Sirius. So, actually I had a chance to ask him if you were here. And that all happened about thirty minutes ago before I apparated here." Lily nodded again, understanding it all...except for one thing. "Um...have you heard from..." but she stopped due to the lump in her throat. "James?" he asked, and Lily nodded with agreement. "No," Remus sighed. "No one has but I'm betting he's still at the Auror office, straightening everything out and making sure You-Know-Who isn't coming back for any reason." Lily sighed, figuring that was the answer she was going to get. "Okay." "Don't worry about it, Lils. I actually have to leave in five minutes, but I came here to drop off your birthday gift," he said with a wink, giving her a wrapped present, which happened to be a pair of emerald green dress robes that she had wanted for a long time. "Awww, thanks Remus. They're beautiful. And maybe I'll see you over the weekend if I have time to get out to England." Remus smiled. "I'll keep in touch," he said, before apparating back to England. "Was that a friend?" Andy asked, coming up behind her, making her jump a little. Lily laughed. "Yeah. He just came by to talk to me about the lock-down, which I'm sure you heard of." "Oh, definitely. I get a few wizardry channels here and a bunch of my friends are wizards," he explained. "And it did not look good. I hope everyone that you know is okay." Lily just nodded, not sure as to what to say at this point. Oh, well my boyfriend could be dead somewhere and this guy that used to be my enemy but is now my friend's husband could be dead and this snobby, know- it-all prick could be dead as well. Oh, and there's nothing I can do about any of that, but you know, everything's great!! So Lily just said nothing. *~*~*~*~* The next few days were hectic for Lily, but at the same time they were great. She started her job early the next morning, still preoccupied with thoughts of James, but when she walked into the Random House for Wizardry building, she immediately forgot everything else except for publishing. She couldn't wait to get started, and after being showed around and after meeting her boss and her fellow workers and after being told what to do, she started doing small odd jobs for Dr. Rhonda Fleischer, her boss. The whole week was fun and she immediately fell in love with her job and with her co-workers. Unfortunately, the nights were a different story. Angel, I can feel it's not you Angel, I wish it were not true And as I walk to the beat of my heart inside I feel like letting go Oh darling, in my dream, you'll be tonight Every night she'd go to bed hoping that a letter would appear for her or a phone call would be made just so she could know that James was okay...unfortunately, for the next five days, it was exactly the opposite. Everything was quiet and none of her friends had heard anything about him. She would take a last glance at the picture beside her bed of him before turning off the light and would cry herself to sleep every night holding on to the necklace Sirius and Savannah gave her. Oh Mr. Postman Give me a sign Tell me you've a letter, to make me feel fine Oh don't you know I am waiting here for you Tell me it will be here tonight On very early Sunday morning, May 30, two days before Lily and James' one-year anniversary, she had received a phone call from Sirius at two in the morning. It disturbed and woke up both her and Andy, but she knew it wasn't good if Sirius Black was up before ten o'clock in the morning, which she figured he was considering the time differences. "Lily? Um...Savannah called me a few minutes ago." "Yeah?" Lily said, barely audible and still groggy. "Um..." he muttered. Lily was now fully awake. "Oh, no. What happened, Sirius??" He sighed. "This is really hard to say." "Oh, God," she whispered breathlessly. "Just tell me and get it over with." He sighed again. "Lily...Twenty-two out of thirty-four Aurors in Sir Sephilia's office died trying to protect the world from You-Know-Who, and seven of the eleven alive are all of the advanced Aurors, including Sir Sephilia and his Senior Advisor, Sir Raoul Torrington. They won't reveal the names of the living to us yet, but...well, I just wanted to tell you that a.s.a.p. before you found out from somebody else." Lily didn't say anything back as she tried to hold in all the tears and unhappiness that was built up inside of her. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor as the tears rolled down her cheek and as she sobbed into the phone. "We're here for you, Lily," Sirius said softly before hanging up the phone and giving Lily some time and privacy. She immediately wished that she could go back to England to see Sirius and Savannah and all of her friends, and she might have if she didn't have work to do later that morning. That night, Sunday night that is, she had a sinking feeling at the bottom of her stomach that he wasn't ever coming back. And she couldn't help thinking about what a lousy anniversary it was. She didn't want to admit it, but every time they got close to a one-year anniversary, something always happened to prevent it and she never expected death to be a factor. She tried to stop thinking about it, but that made it worse and everywhere she went she would see his face and see his memories. That night she didn't cry herself to bed or even shed one tear for him. She held the picture frame in her arms, and silently prayed that everything was working out for him wherever he was...in heaven, she thought not saying it out loud. She slowly took out the picture from the frame and said softly, "I love you James, but if I can't have you here...I don't want any of you," and with that she slowly ripped up the picture and threw the pieces into the trash, making most of the pieces just scatter across the floor around the waste basket. She thought she'd be bawling by then but instead she stared at the empty picture frame and sat on the floor for hours, just thinking of all of their memories together. She woke up the next morning still sitting on the floor and still in the clothes she had on the day before. She didn't tell Andy anything, even though he could sense something was wrong. Savannah, Sirius, Kaitlynne, Peter and Remus had all called her Monday morning, but Lily shook her head at Andy when he offered the phone to her. That evening she had an interview with her new internship manager, and had tried to put away all of the thoughts of James for that one evening so she wouldn't seen distracted, and it somewhat worked until Mrs. Goldman, her manager, had asked her what she missed most about England. "Oh..." Lily said. "Um...I-I don't really know. My...er...friends, I guess," Lily said, trying not to cry. "Oh, anyone in particular?" Yes, Lily thought, as the tears sprang to her eyes. "Not really," she lied instead. She went back to Andy's apartment—it was still too hard to call it her home at the time—on Saturday night in a strange, awkward mood, and walked in to find five strangers sitting around the living room drinking and laughing. "Um...hello?" she said with a confused smile. "Oh, hey, Lily," Andy said. "I would've told you about this, but I didn't know until about thirty minutes ago that they'd be here," he explained, laughing. Lily grinned at him, and at them all. "Okay, you did not tell us you had another woman roommate," one of the guys said who was by far the tallest (and the cutest, she noted), about six feet two inches, with cute blonde spiked hair, very muscular and had the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. He winked at her. "And you never mentioned she was cute either." Lily laughed, realizing it felt good to laugh after not laughing for a whole day. "I'm taking that as a compliment." "You should," he said, winking again. Andy rolled his eyes. "That's Shane Taylor." "Nice to meet you," he said with a welcoming smile. Andy pointed to another guy, who was leaning against the wall with a beer in his hand who looked older than the rest with dark hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. "That's Brett McAlester." "Hi," he simply said, giving her a strange look as if he knew her already. "That's Brad Holton," Andy said, pointing to a guy with spiked brown hair and brown eyes. "Hey," he said with a warm smile. "That's Erik Bremmington," Andy said pointing a guy with red, curly hair and green eyes and who was obviously older than her and Andy, and he smiled at Lily. "And I'm Callie Bremmington," the only woman in the room, besides Lily, said. She was short with long, straight golden-blonde hair and she somewhat reminded her of Savannah, though definitely a little older. "And this is Lily Evans," Andy introduced. "Wait, did you go to Hogwarts?" Brett asked. Lily nodded, surprised that he even knew about it. "Um...yeah." "That's where I know you from. I went to Hogwarts my last two years of wizardry school. Weren't you friends with the Marauders?" Lily nodded as it made her think of James, but she immediately pushed him out of her mind, just wanting to have a good time. "Yeah. Still am." "Really? That's awesome. I never really got to know anyone there and right after graduation I moved out here to work at my father's company, where I met Shane and Erik who knew Andy...and I, of course, met Callie through Erik. She kinda came out of nowhere...too bad she's still not there," Brett teased laughing. "Yeah, well at least I'm married happily and you're still living in that dump you call a home," Callie shot back, laughing. "Hey, at least I'm not living with the dump," Brett fired back nodding at Erik, and they all laughed, including Lily. "One of my good friends is Andy's cousin, who also attended Hogwarts," Lily explained to Brett. "Which one? Vera, Jacob, or Kaitlynne?" he asked. "Kaitlynne." "Oh, good. I like her best anyway," he said, and they all laughed. "Which is why you dated Vera for two months?" Shane said with a half-smile. "Yeah...terrible mistake," Brett said with a laugh, which made them all laugh. "Okay, so you're probably wondering why they are all here, but we're just celebrating Brett's birthday, which was actually yesterday," Andy explained. "Oh, happy birthday," Lily said to Brett. "Thanks," he said with a grateful smile and a wink. "Lily's birthday was last weekend," Andy informed. "Oh, happy birthday!" they all cooed, and Lily couldn't help but blush for some unapparent reason. "So how long have you been in California?" Brad asked Lily. "Since about...very, very early Tuesday morning, like three o'clock or whatnot," she explained. "Oh, not that long, then," Shane said. Lily shook her head. "Not at all. I got a job at Random House for Wizardry and I started on Wednesday, and I was glad that Kaitlynne had told me that Andy needed a roommate. And here I am." "I work at Random House, also," Callie said. "What division do you work under?" "Publishing with Dr. Rhonda Fleischer." "Oh. I worked there for a year before I moved up on the Board with Dr. Fred Severns as my boss now." "Really?" Lily said, truly interested. "Okay, is it just me or is this starting to sound really boring?" Brad asked faking a yawn, and they all laughed. "Well, I'm sorry that we're more advanced than you technology junkies," Callie teased, and she and Lily roared with laughter. "I don't think we're wanted," Brett commented. "I think you're right, Brett," Brad said. Callie whispered to Lily conspiratorially loud enough for them all to hear "These five should have been rocket scientists. Nothing gets by them." Erik's mouth was playfully agape. "I think she just insulted us." "I think you're right, Erik," Shane said. "See what I mean?" Callie said, nodded as if her point were proven. "Rocket scientists." And they all laughed simultaneously just as there was a knock on the door. "Hmm...I wonder who that is?" Andy thought out loud, just as Lily stood up to grab a beer from the kitchen. "I'll get it," Andy offered, placing down his beer and walking towards the door. The person knocked again, and Andy yelled impatiently, "Hold on! I'm coming!" He opened the door slightly so that the door was hiding everyone in the room from the person at the door and he saw someone who looked vaguely familiar, but he still didn't know who it was. "Um...can I help you?" "Does Lily Evans live here?" "Uh...yeah. And who are you?" "A friend," the person said smugly. "Is she in now? I really need to talk to her." "Yeah, she's here," Andy said, opening the door further. "Thanks, Andy," the person said, walking into the room to see six other people there drinking and laughing and playing around. "Oh...hello." Andy didn't even realize that the person said his name until Brett pointed it out. "How did that person know your name?" Andy stood there stunned. "I-I don't know. I don't know who that was." "Okay, this is just too horror film-like for me," Erik complained. "How is this like a horror film?" Shane asked with a smirk. "Oh, come on. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer? They were stalkers!" he cried, laughing. [a/n: okay, I know these movies didn't come out until the nineties, but I didn't feel like looking up the names of horror movies that were shown in theater before the eighties! J] "Why did I ever marry you?" Callie wondered, grinning at him. This is when Lily got her head out of the refrigerator and turned around to go back towards the living room, figuring that another one of Andy's friends was going to be there, but instead she dropped the beer bottle in shock, making it spill all over and shatter into a thousand little piece and she gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. The 'stalker' was about to say something, but when he opened his mouth he found that he couldn't talk. But they both found that they didn't need words to describe what had just happened. Lily literally jumped over the kitchen chair to get to the person. "James!" she gasped, before pulling him into a long, gratifying hug where they both ended up shedding a few tears for each other and there they stood in each other's arms, not talking, not moving, not making a sound except for an occasional sniffle, and yet...completely satisfied. "But the only thing that was running through my mind was the fact that I had never gotten the chance to tell you that Sir Sephilia had let me into his Auror program. I refused to die without telling you the whole truth." Lily sniffled and hugged him close to her. "Oh, James, I love you so much. I don't care if you hadn't told me. I'm just glad you're back." "I love you, too, Lily," James murmured, kissing her passionately on the lips. "But where were you for the past week?" Lily asked, after they pulled apart. "No one could get a hold of you!" "Let me start from the beginning. I was trailing right behind Voldemort for about four days when our cover was blown by his death- eaters. I was captured, along with almost everyone else. I was close to dead...but I knew I couldn't let you or Sirius or Remus or Savannah or Peter or my parents or everyone else I knew down. It was a tough battle, but Alastor Moody devised a plan for us to escape and him and a few other Aurors at Sephilia's office were given the chance to get away quickly and quietly. We got back to the tent and we told Sephilia where he was hiding, hoping it wasn't too late. Well, we caught him and sent him crawling back to Iceland, actually. Because there were only a few of us left, Sir Sephilia needed all the help he could get this past week and we've been under cover, hidden away, and away from the death-eaters so I couldn't call you or write to you. I was so scared that you guys thought I was gone," James explained. Lily sniffled. They were in her room now, sitting on her bed just talking about everything that had happened in the past two weeks. "We did. The moment I heard that more than half of the Aurors had died on duty, I had this sickening feeling in my stomach. I couldn't deal with it." "As I can see," he muttered bitterly. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked crossly. "Huh?" he asked innocently. "Oh...nothing." "No, tell me what you meant by that." James sighed. "It's just that...well, I did not expect you to be hanging out with a bunch of friends the day after you heard about my mission and the consequences." "What? First of all, they weren't my friends. I didn't even know they were going to be here! They were just celebrating Brett's birthday," Lily explained. "Brett?" he asked with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Yes, Brett," she answered harshly. "Yeah, well if they were Andy's friends why were you hanging out with them?" "Because I needed a good laugh and just to relax and have a good time." "A good time?" James questioned. "I'll just bet you had a good time. I couldn't help but notice there were more males than females," he mumbled under his breath. It's just one more day No one said there would be pain again Won't blame it on myself I'll blame it on the jealous man "So? Are you accusing me of going behind your back?" Lily demanded. "If you thought I was dead, you wouldn't necessarily be going behind my back," James pointed out. "Oh, so instead, you think that the day after I find out that the man that I love could be dead I would start dating someone else?" "I don't know," James said, shrugging. Get away for a while Here I am out on my own again Won't blame it on myself I'll blame it on the jealous man "Oh, jeez, James. I'm not that stupid!! And stop being so goddamn jealous and learn to trust me!" "I do trust you!" "Well, then why are you accusing me of dating other guys when I'm still dating you?" "Hey, it happened before, Lily, if you have forgotten," James said angrily. Lily's expression on her face turned from bitterness to hurt. "I can't believe you just brought that up, James. And besides you know that it wasn't my fault." Standing in the room Calling out your name I was here before I could see your face "How was it not your fault!?" "We were on a break!!!!!!!" Lily screamed. [a/n: I know, I know. Friends. I love that show, what can I say? J] "You said you needed a break so I figured we weren't dating!!" Lily exploded, and she knew that everyone in the other room could hear them but at that moment she didn't care. "Ugh, forget it. Whatever," he muttered. "Oh, and I hate to mention it...no, strike that—I'd love to mention it, that I'm not the only one to blame in that situation! YOU have cheated on me three times, James Potter! So don't scream at me for cheating on you once, when I didn't even cheat on you!! I thought that we could go celebrate your returning, but all you care about is who I've hung out with tonight? That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard!! I can't believe you could be so goddamned shallow!! But, whatever, James. I hope you have a happy life without me because I don't need any of this jealousy crap right at the moment, especially from you!." Lily screamed, jumping off of the bed and walking towards the door. Only clouds will see Tears are in my eyes Empty like my heart Why do you say good-bye? The pain goes on "Don't run away from this, Lily Evans, like you've done in the past!" James cried. "I'm not running away from anything, James Potter. I'm simply facing the fact that my boyfriend, no ex-boyfriend, doesn't seem to want to trust me and thinks that he can control my life. Well, you're wrong, James and I don't any of your love vs. jealousy act right now. Let me live my own life in America, and you go back to England and live your life there...away from me," she snapped at him, before charging towards the door in complete anger and frustration. "We're two different people in two different places. Just leave it at that." Alone I can hear Hear our song Playing for me again Won't blame it on myself Just blame it on the jealous man "No, Lily, wait," James started. "Wait for what? You to accuse me something again!?" "No, I-" Before leaving the room, she turned around to face James. "You know, it always seems like whenever we're close to that one-year mark, we become a little too overprotected of each other. We run and hide from the damn truth, and find an excuse to make space between us...this time there's no need for an excuse," she explained sadly. "Happy Anniversary, James," she said barely audible before leaving her room and walking out of the apartment, not even looking at the six other people in the living room when she passed by them. She just wanted to get out of there and think things over. The pain goes on and on again The suffering will always stand The agony goes on with this man I'll blame it on the jealous man ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Yeah, Happy Anniversary to you, too," James said softly. "And Happy Birthday," he added. He stood up and was about to leave the room when he saw a bunch of ripped up pieces of paper sprawled about the garbage and realized that it was his—and Lily's—favorite picture of them two. Tears of hurt, plus sorrow, filled his eyelids when he realized she had already ripped it up before he got there. He sat there, realizing that Lily was right: they had always become too overprotected and ran from the truth when it came to their one-year anniversary. He sighed, and walked out of the room where he saw everyone staring at him. "Hey," he said to the strangers in the apartment. "Um...hi?" Shane said, still confused as to who it was. "So, you and Lily had still been together after the last time I saw you?" Andy asked, knowing that it was James Potter who was standing in the living room. "Not exactly. We've been off and on and have only truly been serious since last June...but I guess that's over," he explained, and Andy had suddenly remembered when Lily had vaguely told him about that before. "But you heard all about that, I'm sure," James said pointing out that they had probably overheard their argument. They all looked sheepish. "I'm sorry," Callie sympathized, not about to pretend like she didn't hear their yells. "Don't be. It was my fault for being so stupid. But I think she's right. We need space from each other. We just need time to calm down and to get settled into our new lives. It's all for the best," James explained, using the famous line of Sirius and Savannah even though he didn't believe that from one second. Andy nodded. "She's one heck of a woman. Don't let her go," he said, before James left the apartment and apparated back to London. James' first and only priority was to see Lily, and now that he had done that, which ended up being traumatic, he didn't find any real need in going to see any of his other friends, even though he knew he should, considering they were all probably worried about him. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Si-Si, are we going to Allie's tomorrow or are we not?" Savannah asked. He sighed. "I guess so. I...I just don't want any more bad news," he explained. Savannah grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the couch, where she cuddled into his arms. "Honey, if it is bad news, which I bet it's not, wouldn't it be better to be there with Allie than to be here sulking by ourselves?" "Why are you so smart?" he asked her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Because someone in this relationship has to be," she joked. "Hey!" he cried, and they both laughed. "Oh, and Kaitlynne called earlier when you were upstairs and she says that if it's okay that she'll probably move in next Wednesday." "That's perfect. Only I wish it were you who was moving in," he said winking. "Didn't we already talk about this," she teased. "If Kaitlynne gets that job in Australia, and I move back to England after my last year at college, then I'll move in with you, you bozo," she said laughing, "You better," he replied with a grin, just as the phone rang. "Okay, I need to get that." "Okay," she said, without getting up and grinning at him. "You are not helping," he said with a smile as it rang again. "Fine, but you asked for it." He started to tickle her and she squirmed away from him and on to the ground just as the phone rang and there was knock at the door. "I'll get the door, you get the phone," she said still laughing. She walked to the door and opened it and gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth. "Oh...my...God..." she whispered, as she flung her arms around James' neck just as he put his arms around her waist. "Oh, it's good to see you again," James whispered to her, as the tears sprang to her eyelids already. "I can't believe you're actually...here," she cried, instead of saying 'alive.' "I know," he whispered. "Who is it!?" Sirius cried from the kitchen, obviously still on the phone. Savannah grinned and let go of him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Sirius dropped the phone. "Hey," James said with a slight grin. Sirius stood there agape and then did something that he's never done to James in his whole lifetime of being friends with him (not including graduation) and walked over to him and gave him a hug. Both James and Savannah were surprised, but James returned it gratefully and Savannah smiled at them...until she heard a scream from the phone. They all laughed, and Savannah ran to pick it up as James went on to explain the whole story to Sirius. "Hello?" she said. "SIRIUS?" the person cried. Savannah laughed. "No, it's Savannah." "Savannah? Savannah Turner?" the unfamiliar voice said. "Um...yeah. Who is this?" "It's Daniel Marx." "Danny!!" she squealed. "How are you?" He sighed. "Not so good." "Oh, no. What happened?" "I'm not sure. Josh Matthews just called me and-" "What!?" she cried. "Huh?" "Josh Matthews?? He's alive!?" she squealed. "Yeah!" he said happily. "I thought you knew." "Now I do!" "But he can't reach Allie, so I'm not sure what's up with that." "Oh...hmmm...that's strange. I figured she'd stay in the house with the phone open until he called," she thought out loud. "Yeah, I thought so too," he said. "Well, Sirius called me yesterday morning to ask me if I've heard anything on Minnie, and today Josh called me to tell me that ever since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had hit their school, that he hadn't seen her anywhere." Savannah sighed. "Oh, no. Well, I'm sure she's okay somewhere, Daniel, and don't worry about it. In fact, if you want, Sirius and I could pop by later tomorrow." "Oh, would you? That would be so nice of you," he said, extremely grateful. "My house has been pretty lonely since the lock-down and it would be nice to see you again." "Okay, we'll stop by tomorrow," she agreed. "I'll talk to you later." And she hung up the phone and returned to Sirius' and James' conversation. "What about Lily?" Sirius asked. "Did you go see her?" James sighed, as Savannah took a seat next to him. "Yeah," was his plain and simple answer. "What was her reaction?" Savannah asked. "She broke up with me," he replied after deciding just to tell them instead of hide it. "WHAT!?!?" both Savannah and Sirius cried incredulously. James couldn't help but laugh at their reaction. "It's a long story, but...in the end, we got into a huge argument and she broke up with me." Both Savannah and Sirius were speechless. "But...your anniversary is tomorrow!" Savannah blurted out, before covering her mouth, realizing it was a stupid thing to say as Sirius glared at her. "I know," he sighed. "It seems like we always do something stupid and break up before we get to our one-year anniversary. Lily mentioned it, but it always seems like we're hiding from something or we're running from something." "I'm sorry, James," Savannah said, really thinking about apparating to Lily's at the moment and wondering what the heck Lily was thinking. "I-I don't know. It just felt so...real. I mean, we've dated before obviously, but the last year was different. It really felt like sooner or later we'd get married or something. Obviously, I was wrong." "No, you weren't," Savannah said unexpectedly. "What?" James said confused. "Huh?" Sirius asked, bewildered. "Lily's obviously going through a selfish stage or whatnot," Savannah said angrily, surprising herself more than Sirius and James, who were definitely taken aback. "Whoa..." Sirius said. "Savannah, you-" "No, let me finish," she said firmly. "I don't know what you or she did to cause this, but I know nothing could have brought you two apart again. You two are going to be the first of all of us who get married and you two are going to be the first two to have a baby," she said even more firmly. "Is that a demand or an order?" Sirius said with a slight grin. "It's a command," she said without smiling. James looked at her a little strangely, but realized she was just saying it because she that's what she believed in. He wasn't so sure anymore. Disregarding what she was saying, he only said, "Listen, I've got to get back to school, and I have to go by broomstick, so I have to leave now. I'll write you guys," and he stood up and headed for the door. "JAMES!" Savannah snarled rolling her eyes at him, and throwing her hands up into the air, which made him whirl around again. "What?" he asked facing innocence. "You just got here!" she cried. "Besides, you have a story to tell us!" James sighed. "I-I really don't want to talk about it. It was probably my fault anyhow." "You are so right!" she cried again, jumping out of her chair. "I am?" he asked, slinking away slowly, now deathly afraid of her. "You are running from her...or from love at least," she cried disturbed. "I don't know why and I don't care why, but don't sit there and actually expect me to believe that Lily is to blame for everything," she accused. "WHOA! HOLD IT! Are you actually standing there lecturing to me about my love life and defending your best friends when you don't even know what happened!?!?" "You bet your ass I'm doing just that!" she yelled. "I already told you, I don't care what happened but...I know Lily more than I know you, and I know that you're both just hiding something; afraid to admit that you're falling into a bigger commitment than you two thought, is what I'm guessing." "I'm not afraid to admit to anything!" James cried, in total disbelief that Savannah was accusing him of something she knew nothing of. "Yes you are! You just don't know it! And-" "SHUP UP!" James screamed at her, afraid he was going to hit her in any second. His eyes and ears were steaming up and if looks could shoot bullets, then Savannah would be one big hole. "I think I know a little more about my relationship than a snot-nosed, little, spoiled brat like you knows about it so why don't you just mind your own damn business and LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!" And with his final words, he stomped out of the house. "I HOPE YOU DIDN'T YELL THAT AT LILY, BECAUSE IF YOU DID, IT'S OBVIOUS WHY SHE BROKE UP WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!" Savannah cried after him as he slammed the door in her face. She fell to the kitchen chair and sighed. "Oh, God." "Well, that went well," Sirius finally spoke. Savannah said nothing as she sat in her chair with her head in her hands realizing she shouldn't have said anything. The next morning, Savannah and Sirius apparated to Daniel and Minnie's house in Godric's Hollow and were surrounded by hundreds of people they didn't even know. Luckily Sirius spotted Josh and Allie talking to a group of young-looking people about the same age as them and they walked over to where they all were. "Allie!" Savannah cried, giving her a hug. Savannah turned to Josh and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "How could you make me worry about Allie like that??" "Oh, so you don't worry about me, you worry about Allie," Josh said rolling his eye with a silly grin on his face. He and Savannah both knew that they never really liked each other much in Hogwarts, but things have changed. If Allie could find the good deep down inside of Josh, then so could Savannah (she hoped...). Savannah and Josh both wanted to forget their differences. "Weren't you the one who made fun of me graduation night for breaking up with Sirius?" Savannah smirked. Josh laughed. "Oops? Yeah, but you were the one who made my pants fall down in the middle of my speech at dinner that night!" They all laughed. "Oops?" she mimicked. "Okay, okay, okay. We're even," Josh said. "Friends?" Savannah grinned. "Fine, but no more making fun of me...besides I'm dating Si-Si now." He groaned. "Again?" he said. Savannah gave him a look. "I mean...great!!!" They all laughed again. "Um...so why is everyone crowded in this tiny house today...everyone meaning people I don't even know?" Sirius dared to ask. Josh and Allie exchanged awkward glances. "Y-You don't know?" "Didn't know what?" Savannah asked slowly, afraid of what was coming next. "We just came by because Daniel asked us to last night," Sirius pointed out. "Oh," Josh said uncomfortably, fidgeting with the buckles on his khakis. "What happened?" Sirius asked, afraid to know the answer to that question. "Um...this morning...uh...they...well..."Allie started, but tears sprang to her eyes. "No..." Savannah said slowly, dragging it out. Josh nodded. "They found her body this morning," he said barely audible as lump formed in his throat. "Buried under mountains of dust, boulders, bricks, and...and other bodies." "Oh, no!" Savannah cried shaking her head forlornly, as the tears spilled down her face. "Where's Daniel?" "In the kitchen surrounded by relatives. Good luck getting through there," Allie explained. "No one has been able to talk to him for over an hour now." Savannah and Sirius walked into the kitchen where, sure enough, he was surrounded by grandparents and aunts and uncles and parents and cousins. "Danny?" Savannah whispered quietly. He looked up and broke away from his crowd, finishing the conversation abruptly. "Oh, Savannah," he said, tears already spread all over his cheeks. Daniel and Savannah used to be neighbors and knew each other ever since first grade. In Hogwarts, Daniel and Savannah had been the best of friends, going everywhere together and doing everything together. At the time, if Daniel wasn't dating Minnie, and Savannah wasn't 'dating' Sirius, then people would've sworn they would have gone out by their seventh year. If Savannah wasn't hanging out with Sirius, she was hanging out with Daniel. If she wasn't hanging out with Daniel, she was hanging out with Lily, Allie, and Kaitlynne. Unfortunately, after graduation, Minnie and Daniel moved to France, and Daniel and Savannah had separated and lost touch for a while. "I'm sorry," Savannah kept repeating. "I'm so, so sorry." They held on to each other for a long time and Sirius snuck out to go find Allie and Josh again, knowing that Savannah and Daniel would be there for a while. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Savannah and Sirius got home late that afternoon, after spending seven hours at Daniel's house, even after everyone left. Savannah sat by Daniel's side for comfort for as long as he needed it and Sirius refused to leave them there alone. Daniel needed friends, and Savannah and Sirius gave him that. Savannah and Sirius walked into Sirius' house around five o'clock, exhausted and depressed. "I can't believe this has happened," Savannah mumbled mournfully. "She was so young. She doesn't deserve this!" "No one ever deserves to die, Vannie," Sirius pointed out, throwing the keys on to the table beside the front door. "I know," Savannah muttered. "But...but...it's different when it happens to someone you know." Sirius nodded in agreement. "I know." As Sirius walked into the kitchen to grab a couple of sodas, Savannah watched him closely as she plopped on to the couch. She didn't know what she'd do if Sirius ever died. She didn't want to think about it, but for some reason, that's all that was going through her mind. Sirius was her life and her reason for living. He was always there for support and always did things that made Savannah know they were completely in love. She sighed and suddenly there was a knock on the door. "I've got it, Si!" Savannah cried, getting up and walking towards the door. When she opened it, she frowned deeply. "What are you doing here?" "Savannah, I'm so sorry," James apologized sincerely, ready to get down on his hands and knees for forgiveness. "Why? Aren't I just a snot-nosed, spoiled brat?" Savannah replied crossly. "No," James urged earnestly. "You're everything but that. You're one of my best friends and I wish I could take back everything that I had said to you yesterday! I never intended on hurting you and I hate it when you're mad at me! If I—" "James, I'm not mad," Savannah said quietly. "—could do anything...wait, what? You're not?" "No." "But...but...I had a whole speech planned! I'm not even half- finished! I was getting ready to grovel at your feet and kiss your toes!" Savannah grinned. "Well, if you really want to grovel at my feet, I wouldn't mind that." James laughed. "Savannah, I really do deserve your anger. I said some things that I never should have said. Especially to you. You have always been there for Lily and me, and what I said was just stupid!" "James, you can be an idiot sometimes," Savannah smirked, chuckling to herself. "But I realized today that you were just defending yourself. Listen, right now, you and I aren't the issue. Daniel needs us, and I can't bear to live with you mad at me at this time. I spent almost half a day with Danny and I realized that you almost died last week!! I should not be screaming at you! I should be hugging you! Kissing you! Praising you! Celebrating! I should not be scolding you! If that was you who had died, I never would have been able to live with myself." "But it wasn't me," James said softly. "I'm not going anywhere. I will never hurt you again like I did yesterday, Savannah. Thanks for understanding." "So do we agree to disagree with this whole Lily situation?" Savannah said. "Yes. And let's just leave it at that." Savannah smiled widely and gave him a very unexpected hug. "Welcome home, James." "Thanks," James whispered back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "It's good to be back..." James walked away after that and Savannah smiled again as she closed the door and turned back to where Sirius was leaning against the kitchen door with an all-knowing smile on his face. "Don't say 'I told you so,'" Savannah said, walking over to him with a smile on her face. "Hey, I never get to be right!" Sirius complained. "But this time I told you that you two would make up, and I was right!!" "Don't get used to it," Savannah muttered. He laughed as he leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss. "I told you so..." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Four days later, they had the funeral and everyone was there. Daniel's parents, brothers, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, Minnie's parents, brother, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, neighbors, co-workers, Sirius, Josh, Remus, Peter, James, Savannah, Allie, and Kaitlynne. Halfway through the service, both Savannah and Sirius noticed that Lily wasn't there, and wondered why but didn't say anything until afterward. ......Actually, James noticed from the beginning, but he wasn't about to admit to that. At the reception, back at Daniel's house, Savannah asked Sirius, "Where's Lily?" He was taken aback. "I thought you'd know!" "But..." Savannah looked at him speechless. "Oh, my gosh! No one told Lily about Minnie." Sirius took a long sigh and drawled it out. "Could this day get any worse?" he groaned. James came up from behind them, knowing what they were talking about already, but asked, "What are you guys talking about?" Savannah and Sirius exchanged looks and hesitated before answering. "Lily," they both said. "Oh...why isn't she here?" he asked, trying to act casual. Savannah sighed. "Because no one told her." "Wh-what??" "Yeah. We were so caught up with everyone that I guess we all forgot," Sirius explained. "She's not going to like the fact she missed this," James pointed out. "How do you know that?" Sirius asked. James sighed. "We may not be dating now, but I knew her better than anyone, and I still do. She's going to feel so out of the loop now. She's going to feel like everyone forgot about her since she's moved out to California." Savannah sighed. "I know...I know." "Soooo," James said casually. "I'm guessing you haven't heard from her lately." Sirius rolled his eyes at his friend, who was still obviously in love with her. "No, we've been too busy. I talked to her June 1, which was the last time." James nodded and Savannah agreed with Sirius. "Yeah, I haven't exactly been the best of friends with her at the moment," she sighed. "Don't worry about it, Vannie," Sirius said, rubbing her neck. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Where the hell have you been these past few days?" Lily screamed into the phone when Savannah answered Sunday afternoon, as she was getting ready to fly back to Canada to go on tour with the Silver Snitches. Savannah felt incredibly guilty and didn't want to tell her, but she knew she had to. "Well, I'm staying with Sirius for this week as the lock-down cools down and I got a leave of absence for it and-" "How did you manage that?" Lily asked. "You just told them you wanted to be with your boyfriend?" Savannah sighed, knowing it was the moment of truth. "Not exactly. My reason for Monday was that my friends' spouses weren't found yet and I wanted to be there." "Oh, my God! That's right! What happened with Josh and Minnie?" Lily suddenly remembered. "Well...I was able to get another leave of absence for the rest of the week because..." she trailed off. "Oh, no. Don't do this to me, Savannah Lydia Turner!" Lily scolded. "What happened!?!?" "Uh...Josh came home," she said plainly. "And..." "SAVANNAH!" Lily screamed again, making Andy paranoid in the other room. "WHAT HAPPENED!?" Savannah sighed. "Minnie died, Lily." There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Savannah wasn't sure Lily heard her until Lily suddenly said, "Oh, my God. How's Danny?? How's he doing? And how is everyone else dealing with it? Oh, and when's the funeral??" Savannah went silent this time, knowing that Lily was about to blow up in her face. "Danny's going to be okay. And I'm fine, and Sirius and Remus and Kaitlynne and Peter and Allie and Josh are all dealing with it." "What about the funeral?" Lily asked. Savannah hesitated again, "Lily, I've been so busy with Danny lately, and so have Allie and Josh, and Sirius had been supportive with everything. He's always there to run out to the store to get something or be by anyone's side. Then there's Remus who was still worried about his sister—she's fine now—and Kaitlynne was staying with him helping him out and Peter only swung by everyone's place on Wednesday and since then he was just everywhere helping out with everyone, and he's gotten no sleep lately. In fact I haven't slept a wink in days and I've been staying over at Danny's house a lot lately and Kaitlynne and Remus were caught up with Charlotte, his sister, so they've been pretty out of it. And Sirius has been in and out of everyone's house, sleeping whenever he got the chance wherever he got the chance and Peter had to work through most of the nights and-" "Savannah? What are you talking about?" Lily asked slowly, realizing that in her long lecture she never once spoke of James. Savannah sighed, realizing there wasn't any good explanation for this. She took a deep breath in and then out and said, "The funeral was yesterday morning." Again, there was silence on the other end of the phone, but Lily didn't say anything. "Lily?" Savannah said. "Soooo....basically, you were all too busy to write Lily a letter or call Lily to explain that Danny needs support and that there's a funeral going on that I should be at?" Lily cried crossly. "Lily, I'm sor-" "No, don't say you're sorry," Lily snapped. "If you were sorry you would've realized that there's someone in California who can't just pop back to England whenever she likes and doesn't know what's happening unless she's informed! If you were sorry you would've thought about how your best friend would feel to find out another friend's wife is dead...a day late! If you were really sorry, you would've picked up the phone in a second and called me to explain the situation! You're not sorry, you're just unbelievably short-winded!" "Lily-" "No, you have no right talking to me right now, Savannah! Nor does Sirius or Remus or Kaitlynne or Peter or Allie or Josh or whoever!!! I'm stuck in California, and I have no idea what's even happening with my goddamned friends! And you call this a friendship!" she sneered. "Tell Sirius that he was obviously mistaken when he said that we'll always keep in touch! And tell Sirius that his girlfriend should be more observant of her best friend who is completely oblivious to everything going on in England!! Oh, and tell Danny that I'm sorry and that I'll call him later when I calm down and I'm done yelling at my pathetic excuse for a best friend!" Lily finished, before slamming the phone down, understanding that she was a little too harsh and shouldn't have taken out her built-up anger on Savannah. Savannah was hurt by what Lily said, but she realized she felt more guilty than anything. Yes, Lily had been a little harsh on her and she thought she'd be more angry, but she wasn't. She was more angry at herself than she was at Lily. "Who was that?" Sirius asked walking downstairs. He had slept late, until noon and then had taken a long, satisfying shower. Savannah sighed. "Lily." "And I'm guessing she did not take the whole missing-the- funeral-thing so well." Savannah shook her head. "She called me a pathetic excuse for a best friend and short-winded. She said I shouldn't be sorry for what happened because that it shouldn't have happened at all. Oh and she tells you that the whole 'keeping in touch' thing is not working and you were obviously mistaken and to tell your girlfriend that she should be more observant of her best friend who was oblivious to everything happening in England." Sirius sighed, and walked over to her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Oh, honey, she's not mad at you, she's just angry that no one bothered to tell her about Minnie. Don't feel bad." Savannah shook her head. "But that's the thing...I don't feel bad. I feel guilty. I feel stupid. I feel worthless. I feel pathetic. I feel disloyal. I feel horrible. The list keeps going. But mostly...I feel angry with myself. She's right. I shouldn't be sorry because it shouldn't have happened. I just...got caught up with everything and forgot about her for one measly second in my life." "Vannie, if anyone should feel guilty and horrible, it shouldn't be you. You have been of much obliged help to Danny, and he needed it. He needed your support and you gave him that. Dealing with death is painful...trust me, I've been there. All he needed was a good friend to be there, and that was you. You did a good thing this week, Vannie, and here I am realizing that I haven't done much at all to benefit anyone. I've just been around, helping out with you and Danny, and with Remus and Kaitlynne and Peter, and James, and basically worthless things. They didn't help anyone. I'm the worthless one here!" "No way. I might have been there for Danny, but I've been there all week. You've been helping everyone, and that's what they need! As long as they have your support that's great! I only gave my time to one person. Besides, Lily's my best friend!!! I'm the worthless one!" "No way!!! You-" Savannah interrupted him by erupting with a loud, hyena-type laugh which made Sirius stare. "Sirius, we're arguing over who's more worthless. This argument is worthless!!!" Sirius laughed with her. "You're right, Vannie. Let's just agree that we're both worthless," and they both laughed. "Okay...but I'm more worthless," she muttered. "Not if I can help it," he muttered back, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm leaving in two hours and that's all I get?" she asked. "Oh, no way. I'm just waiting for the right time in this two- hour period to give you more," he said with a playful grin. "Fine, how about we go upstairs and do the packing?" Savannah said expressionless. "Packing?? Is that my new nickname?" he asked with a wink and Savannah laughed. "Let's just hope there aren't tons of clothes sprawled out on your bed," he teased. "No, I made sure that stayed clean," she said with a grin before dragging him upstairs. *~*~*~*~* Sirius heard a knock on his door the next night and after putting down the remote and the popcorn he had in his hands, he went to see who it was. "Hi, Sirius," Lily said slowly. "Lily!" he cried, sounding very surprised. "I know you're wondering why I'm here, right?" "Well...uh...yeah, kinda." "I was just wondering if Savannah was still here." Sirius winced. "She left last night," he said with a straining face as if he already knew why she wanted see her. "By the look on your face I'm guessing Savannah had told you what I said." Sirius put on a guilty look. "Well...yeah." "Maybe...maybe I'll just send her a letter or something to her dorm," Lily thought out loud. "Well, I'm sorry to bother you." "You're not. I was just watching a movie alone on a Saturday night. Pathetic, right?" he grinned. "Yeah, well I better go anyway." "Why?" Sirius asked. Lily sighed. For some reason, it just felt uncomfortable standing there with him. Mostly because of what had happened with Savannah and her, but also because of the fact that she couldn't help but remember that she didn't live there anymore. California was her home and that's where it was going to be. She felt out of the loop with everyone...especially standing in from of her former house. "I-I just don't belong anymore," she whispered. "What are you talking about?!" Sirius cried, trying not to laugh. "I don't live here anymore, Sirius. Everything has changed and I just feel...out of the loop," she said miserably. "But you're not out of the loop...at least, I won't let it happen. You do belong because you're my friend. That's all that matters, Lily." "Will I always be?" "Yes. I don't care if you become a penguin and live in Antarctica!! I'd still come visit you. I'd have to wear ten jackets and twenty pairs of gloves and thirty pairs of socks and get a pair of those snow pants and it would be pretty hard to find you considering you'd look like everyone else on the damn continent, but if I had to spend the rest of my life searching for you on that damn piece of sheer ice, so be it. I refuse to lose a friendship with you just because you moved to California." Lily couldn't help but smile. "A penguin? Couldn't I be a koala bear or something where I don't have to live in the freezing cold?" "You are totally missing the point here." "No, I got it. I just don't want to be a penguin." "I'm sorry, why am I your friend?" he teased. "Quack." "Penguins don't quack!!" Sirius said with a laugh. Lily laughed. "I know. But it would just sound stupid if I said, 'Waddle, waddle.'" They both laughed. "Okay, well I got to get home now, but if you talk to Savannah before I do, just tell her I was looking for her," Lily said, turning around. "Savannah isn't mad at you, if that's what you were wondering." Lily stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. "What? How could she not be?" "She claims it was all her fault because she never told you. Actually, we all feel really bad. Both Savannah and I feel horribly guilty for not going to you right away. We're really sorry, and we promise to stay in touch with you about everything that happens." "You shouldn't feel guilty. You both had a lot on your minds, what with Minnie and all, and I do understand a little, but I don't want this to happen every time something terrible or something excellent happens." "It won't. I refuse to let that happen again. Trust me; I've learned my lesson and so has everyone else." "I just...I just felt so bad when I found out...too late. I wanted to be there for Daniel and I wasn't. He needed all the support he could get, and I wasn't there giving him any." "I'm so sorry, Lily." "So am I. I shouldn't have yelled at Savannah the way I did. I was just frustrated with the whole moving to California situation." "So are the rest of us," Sirius said wearily. Lily sighed. "Speaking of California, I guess I've got to be getting back. I've got a lot of stuff to do." "Don't," Sirius urged. "Stay here. I haven't spent much time with you since you left." "But-" "Please? I'm asking you as you fellow penguin!" Lily laughed. "Fine, fine...as long as I don't have to watch any nature videos about penguins." Sirius laughed as he closed the door behind her...he knew that this would be just like old times! Kaitlynne eventually moved in with Sirius and she started dating Remus, who was still living with Peter. Both of them kept their jobs, although Remus had been promoted to co-assistant in the sea monster division. Since touring with the Silver Snitches, Savannah had toured with BBWiz, Lorna VanCampbell, the Creepy Owls, Laurette Scamson, the Lord V's, the Deathifyers, VP Witchcraft, and the Underworld Wizards. She had also gotten single gigs playing at coffeehouses, she had been opening for other bands, and wrote and sold tons of her music. Basically...she was gaining a lot of money in the music business and liked every minute of it.
Sirius got a new job at Hickory Bee's Joke Shop in Diagon Alley, and was slowly moving up to assistant manager. He quit his job at the school and, to make up for extra money, became a waiter at Three Broomsticks three night of the weeks, working with Rosmerta, who wasn't too fond of that...J Sirius and Savannah were still together, and they were better than ever. They weren't just the happiest couple they wanted to be; they were in love. No, they hadn't said it to each other yet, but that was because they were both scared. They've had their rough times, and through those times there wasn't much standing in the way. But love...that would always stick with them. Mostly because they both knew how they truly felt about each other even if it wasn't spoken out loud yet. Peter kept his job, though where he worked relocated to western Canada, luckily he could apparate so he didn't move out and did the same things he always did (let's just say that no one really knew what he did...only you and me.) Allie and Josh finally got married in October of 1981 and moved into a bigger house around New Years in a town not too far away from Alphamstone. Allie took over her grandparents' restaurant and became the manager two months after starting a waitressing job there. Josh became an actor in Les Miserables for four months before retiring to a better part in Sound of Music to which he still performs in now. James has been on plenty of Auror missions, many that could have killed him and many that were close calls that they made Savannah and Sirius scream his head off for being so stupid. He still attended school, though only to get his master's degree in the Auror business legally so in the future, it could help for getting another job, if this one bailed...which he hoped it wouldn't. Lily finished her internship over the summer of 1981 and got her journalism degree and her Daily Prophet editor rights from a long ceremony at the end of August. She kept with her job at Random House for Wizardry instead of heading back to England to look at a job at Daily Prophet. She was still living with Andy, but instead of the apartment, they had both moved out down the street into a nice bigger and affordable house they had both liked. James and Lily had avoided each other since the last time they saw, which was May 31, and had been discrete on why they couldn't make it to the party or the reunion or the celebration or a get-together, their other friends planned, usually using work as an excuse. James even said he couldn't attend Josh and Allie's wedding because of an important Auror deadline he 'forgot about.' Everyone knew he was just chickening out.
Now it was June of 1982 and Andy and Lily decided to throw a graduation party for all of their friends, which were Savannah, Josh, Shane, Brett, and Elizabeth Hallett. Since James was still studying to be an Auror, he still had half a year to go...not that he would have shown up even if the party were for him. Savannah, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Kaitlynne, Josh, Allie, and Daniel had arrived at Lily and Andy's home for the party on June 12 along with Andy's friends, Shane, Brett, Brad, Erik, Callie and his two other friends, Elizabeth Hallett and Zachary Salias. James couldn't attend because he 'had an important Auror mission to complete that would need his full attention for the week, but he hopes that they all have fun.' Now all of Lily's friends, not including Lily, knew that he wasn't there just because it was too awkward for him to stay at Lily's home when they weren't dating anymore even though Lily sent him an invitation. Sirius even begged him to come, and James knew that Sirius knew the real reason, but he refused to step back and go to the party. He was still in love with Lily and he wasn't about to see her when he didn't absolutely need to. "Okay, now that we are all done with dinner and before the cake is brought out, I haven't heard form a lot of you in a while and I demand to know what is up in everyone's lives," Andy said, and they all laughed. "Well, I have some news," Kaitlynne said and Remus turned to her but she shook her head, as if to say hold on. "Well, for those of you who didn't know, I got the job in Australia-" "That's great!" Lily and Allie cried and Savannah and Sirius nodded, because they already knew. "Wait, hold on. I'm actually not going to take it, though, and I'm staying with my job at the London Ledger," Kaitlynne continued. "What? Why?" Lily asked. "Well...something more important came up..." Kaitlynne said with a grin. Kaitlynne and Remus couldn't help but grin at each other and laugh towards the group, to which the entire group turned to them with raised eyebrows. "Well...uh..." Kaitlynne started out. "Last night was our one-year anniversary and instead of giving me the usual anniversary gifts, he...uh...well, he proposed!" she squealed. "Oh, my God!" "Are you kidding me??" "Seriously!?!?" "This is so great!!" "Congratulations!" "When's the wedding?" "I'm so excited for you!" "He got you pregnant, didn't he," Sirius accused, and they all laughed. "No, Sirius, he didn't get me pregnant and don't ask me any questions about the wedding yet because I've only had one day to think about it!" Kaitlynne replied, and they all laughed. "Any other good news?" Lily asked everyone. "Can anyone top marriage??" And they all laughed again. "Well, to those who didn't know already, I'm pregnant again," Callie said, beaming. "You are?!" "That's so great!" "That's good news!!" "Congratulations!!" "You didn't tell me!" "How long have you known?!" "Oh, I'm so happy for you two!" "Boy or girl?" "How many months?" "Now, how old is Mei again?" "He got you pregnant, didn't he," Sirius accused. "Oh, wait. We knew that." They all laughed again. "I just found out last week, and I'm only a month pregnant, I don't know if it is a boy or girl, and, to answer your question, Elizabeth, Mei is now two years old and as cranky as ever." They all laughed and Lily said, "Well, I guess a pregnancy can top marriage...or it's about the same." That just sent everyone laughing again. "Okay, well, for those of you who know me, I'm obviously Sirius Black...and for those of you who don't know me...I'm still Sirius Black," he started, and everyone laughed. "That's the unfortunate part," Savannah teased. "HEY!" She winked at him and they all laughed. "Well, before I was rudely interrupted," Sirius said glaring at Savannah playfully, "I have some good news, as well." "What?" Savannah cried in confusion. He laughed. "I was going to tell you first, Honey, but this seems appropriate. I got the job as the assistant manager at Hickory Bee's." "Finally!" "You did!?" "That's great!" "Congratulations!" "That's awesome!" "He got you pregnant, didn't he," Lily mimicked. He gasped. "How'd you find out!?" he joked, and they all laughed. "Oh, and more news—Savannah's moving in with me at the end of August," he continued. "Took you long enough," Lily muttered, and everyone laughed. "She was still in school," Sirius defended. "Besides, Kaitlynne was living with me for a while!" "Oh, I'm sure that's the only reason," Remus commented. "You would have kicked Kaitlynne out on to the streets during the middle of a huge rainstorm in the freezing weather if Savannah was given the chance to come live with you!" "No way," Sirius protested. "...I would have given her an umbrella and maybe an extra jacket." "It's nice to know I'm loved," Kaitlynne said sarcastically. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ They all stuck around for most of the night, until late, around midnight, before returning back to their homes or returning back to someone else's home, except for Sirius and Savannah and Shane who were helping to clean up the place and basically just spend even more time with each other. Sirius and Lily both went to the garage with a garbage bag in their hands, as Lily finally had the guts to ask him casually, "Uh...so, Sirius, have you heard from James lately?" Sirius grinned wide, but luckily it was dark in the garage so Lily didn't notice. He knew that Lily was trying to act as if she didn't care at all, but it was obvious that she still cared about him a lot. It's been over a year since they've talked last and they're both too stubborn to admit that they miss each other's company. "Actually, I talked to him three days ago when his graduation ceremony was. He says he wish he could have been here," Sirius lied, "But he needed to work for the rest of the week." Lily nodded, obviously very disappointed. "Oh. Okay. I... I just haven't spoken to him in over a year, so I was just curious," she fibbed. Sirius grinned again while rolling his eyes. "I know. I don't know why you two refuse to talk to each other. But...it's not my business and Savannah would whip my butt if she found out I was even telling you what I thought." "Oh, so it's all about what your girlfriend wants nowadays?" Lily said, laughing, but actually just trying to avoid what Sirius had said. She knew it was true and Sirius knew she knew it was true, but she wasn't about to show it. "Lily, just talk to him," Sirius urged. Lily sighed. "Sirius, it's complicated. You don't know the whole story." "I know I don't, but you two have got to get through your complications. I don't know what happened between you two, and I'm not trying to figure it out because it's not my problem, but I hate to see you both so distant." "Sirius..." Lily sighed, looking up at the night sky. "You know what my mother always used to say? Life is like a constellation—you never know what you may find, but something always turns up. When that 'something' turns up, I'll know it. But it's not time yet for me to go out seeking for the answers yet. I'm still young and I don't know what I want. Please, just leave it at that." Sirius saw her staring into the midst of the cold air and sighed without letting her notice. "I'm sorry, Lily. I just want you to be happy." Lily looked back at him and smiled, brightening her face with the moonlight. "I am happy." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ By late July, Kaitlynne had moved out of her home in Alphamstone and Remus moved out of his apartment with Peter. Kaitlynne and Remus moved in together to a smaller, peaceful wizardry town and into a nice-sized house in Concave Borough, a town right outside of Alphamstone, where they spent most of their summer planning the wedding, which was to be held on October 22. Lily still had work, but on the weekends, she often went to go visit Savannah, still in Canada finishing up little odd jobs her agent gave her, and Sirius who still lived in Alphamstone. Sometimes she would visit Daniel in Godric's Hollow, which was her absolute favorite town, or she'd visit Allie and Josh, who were now moving to southern England. She often visited Kaitlynne and Remus in their new home and helped out a lot with the wedding, as did everyone. Every time she would go to Sirius' house, she secretly wished that she could have seen James at least once. For all she knew, he could have long hair, an earring, bell-bottoms and high-tops and could be saying "Peace," and "Wicked," to people passing on the street. Somehow, she figured that he didn't change into a hippie, but it still would have been nice to see him again. Luckily, she got her change at the end of August. Dear Lily Evans, You are invited to celebrate a five-year Hogwarts reunion in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School on August 21 at 6 o'clock in the evening. This will be a chance to see all of your old friends, catch up on some current news, to see you old teachers, and to have a good time, just like the good ol' days. I hope we will all see you there. Sincerely, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore She laughed, realizing that the people she'd want to see at the reunion, she's already friends with. And Dumbledore, of course. And...well, she wasn't about to admit it, but James, also. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "You have to go," Savannah whined to Daniel two days before the reunion. "Why? So everyone can come up to me and ask me how Minnie's doing? Everyone in that damn school knew I married her...but not everyone knows she died," he said. Savannah gave him her puppy-dog look. "Awww, pwease come? For me?" Savannah asked. "I'll keep people away from you," she said, and they both laughed. "I'll save you a few dances, also." He laughed. "Okay, fine, fine, I'll go, but I'm not going to have any fun." They both laughed and Savannah said, "Not if I can help it." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Where were you?" Sirius asked, when she got back to Sirius' later that night. She was staying at Sirius' house for the week until the reunion then she'd return to Canada for one last week before moving in with Sirius. Half of her stuff was already at his house...not unpacked. "I was over at Daniel's. He told me he wasn't going to go to the reunion last night and I couldn't convince him then, so I decided to stop by this afternoon when you were at work." Sirius nodded, hating the fact that she was often spending time with Daniel and not him, but he didn't say so. "As long as I have you tonight," he said, giving her a quick kiss. "Oh, you do," she said with a grin. "And after next week, you'll have me all of the time." "That's what I like to hear!" "No, you like to hear that Brittney Spears is moving in with you next week and she wants to marry you," she said with a giggle. "Well...you're second on my list," he said, and they both laughed. "Oh, great. I'm a consolation prize," she said rolling her eyes with a grin. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Well, Miss Turner and Mr. Black, I heard that you two are quite the item these days," Dumbledore greeted them. They both blushed. "If you want to put it that way," Savannah said with a laugh, as they entered into the Great Hall, where they saw about twenty other people there at the time, and about fifteen of them on the dance floor and the rest just standing around chatting. Savannah saw Daniel near the punch bowl and they walked over to him. "Hey, Danny." "Okay, four people just came up to me and asked me how Minnie was," Daniel said to Savannah. "This is not exactly the fun time you promised me." Savannah laughed. "I'm sorry. It will get better, I promise you." They all laughed. "Are Lily or James here yet?" Sirius asked. "James is over with Remus and Peter, and Lily hasn't gotten here yet," he explained. Sirius started walking over to James and Remus and Peter, but stopped when Savannah didn't come with him. "Are you coming?" "Huh? Oh, no, I'll stay here and talk to Danny." Sirius was annoyed, but didn't show it as he nodded and turned towards James and Remus and Peter. "As long as you're only talking," he muttered to only himself. James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius got into a discussion about their last year at Hogwarts. "James?" a voice said from behind. They all turned around and saw a beautiful, short, petite blonde-haired, blue-eyed, gorgeous woman standing there. "Avril Harper?" he said. "Wow! You've changed so much!" And he gave her a bear hug. They had dated in their third year for five months, until they just started to drift apart. "You want to dance?" "Sure," he replied, and they left to go to the dance floor. "That's one down. Three more to go," Sirius mumbled, and right on cue Kaitlynne walked over. "You want to dance, Remus?" "Of course." "I take that back, make it two down, two to go," Sirius corrected, and Peter snickered. Lily walked into the room at the moment and scanned it, looking for her friends. She saw Savannah and Daniel talking off to the side and Sirius and Peter talking off to the side. She immediately recognized Remus and Kaitlynne dancing on the dance floor and saw Allie and Josh next to them. She pretended not to look, but she scanned the room until her eyes landed on James dancing with Avril Harper. She stared at them for the few minutes, trying to ignore the jealous feeling at the bottom of her stomach. "Take a picture. It lasts longer," someone said from behind. She turned around and saw Savannah there with a grin on her face. "What are you talking about?" Lily said huffily. "I'm not dumb. I've been watching you and that's all you've stared at for the past two minutes." "That's not true," Lily lied. "Fine, don't believe it," she said. "I'm going to look for Sirius." Lily sighed and went to go sit down at an empty table off to the side. "...Okay, so maybe it is true," she muttered to herself. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Throughout the evening, Lily had been asked by plenty of people to dance, and she agreed with every person, and she sat and talked to a bunch of people, including Dumbledore and McGonnagal about everything, and she often ended up hanging out with Sirius a lot while Savannah danced with Danny a bunch of times. If you wanted to know every inch of what Lily had done that night or who she was with or what she ate...just ask James. He was watching her the whole time, even though he wouldn't admit it. "She's not going anywhere. You can take your eyes off of her for a second, can't you? Or are you afraid to lose sight of her?" Savannah asked, coming up from behind him. "What? I don't know what you're talking about," James lied. "Yes you do, but fine, don't admit it. Lily did the same before," she said mischievously. "Huh?" James asked. "Um...what do you mean?" he asked, pretending not to care. "Oh, she was staring at you with Avril for a while," Savannah said playfully, before getting up. "What? Why?" "I think you know." "I'd know more if you just told me..." "Oops, got to go now. Sirius is awaiting," Savannah said with a wink. "Savannah!!" James cried as he watched her submerge into the crowd, thinking about what she had just said. She was staring at me? He thought. But...why?? But deep down, he knew the answer. Lily sat off to the side, after dancing with Danny for a few minutes, just sipping a glass of punch, when she heard someone behind her. "Hi," a very familiar voice said. She half-turned and saw the one person she never would have thought would have come up to her. Her heart sped up at the sight of James, who wasn't a hippie, and she took a deep breath in and out. "Hi," she replied with a warm, welcoming smile. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat next to her. The whole table was empty, and if it was anyone else she may have made a joke about how now her invisible circus was there with her or something, but because it was James, she just shook her head. "Nope." "So...uh...I haven't talked to you in a year and three months. Something must be going on with you," he said with a smile. She smiled back, realizing how good it felt to be talking to him once again. "Nothing that you probably haven't heard from Sirius or Savannah." "Oh...okay. Then I hear you're doing well," James said, acting casual. "Yeah, I guess so," Lily said. "You meeting anyone new?" James asked. "What do you mean?" Lily asked. She was wondering if he was talking about boyfriend new or friends new. "Well you didn't want to go all the way to California because you would miss your friends-" And me, "so I was just asking if you met any new friends." "Oh you mean besides the ones that I cheated on you with the time I thought you were dead?" Lily snapped. Okay, that wasn't supposed to come out. "Look Lily, I didn't-" James started. "Just forget it," Lily said. "I didn't mean to say it." "But you did," James said. "I don't know what came over me that day. I'm sorry." "I know," Lily said, but she didn't accept his apology. If you hadn't gotten all jealous and I hadn't gotten mad we'd still be together today. "So...is everything alright between us?" James asked. Lily snorted. "James, if everything was alright between us, we wouldn't have avoided each other for the past few years." James sighed. "We both just needed time." "I didn't want to have that much time," Lily pointed out. "In fact, I didn't want to have any time!" "Lily, I'm sorry," James said sadly. "There's not much else I can say right now. We can't go back in time and replace those few years we just lost." "Yeah, well, whose fault is that?" Lily grumbled in frustration. "What?" "I'm not the jealous one, here," Lily commented. "I'm not the one who doesn't trust me or the one who didn't trust our relationship! I'm not the one who ganged up on me the day after you got back!" "Lily, I'm—" "Don't say you're sorry," Lily muttered angrily. "Because if you were, then it wouldn't have happened." "Lily, I—" "Nothing is the way it used to be, James," Lily said sorrowfully. "And it probably never will be." And with those last heartbreaking words, she got up and left James behind, not looking back at his frustrated and shocked face as she went to go find someone else to talk to. James sighed and looked down at the ground in sympathy. "Hey buddy! Saw you talking to Lily..." Sirius said with a smirk. "So?" James asked. "Well what did you say to her? What did she say to you?" Sirius asked. "She's still a little angry..." James explained. "What?! She can't be! She is not! It's been over a year!" "Yes she is. I was the one talking to her." "You really wish she wasn't mad at you huh?" Sirius asked. James looked at him as if that was the stupidest question to be asked. "She's one of my best friends! Of course I wish she wasn't mad at me." "That's not the only reason..." "Fine, fine!" James cried. "Maybe I do miss her! But of course I do! She's the only woman I've ever loved!" "Then tell her that." "She won't listen." "How do you know without trying?" "I just know..." Over on the other side of the room: "So I saw you talking to James..." Savannah said casually, coming up to Lily. "Yes, I'm sure you did," Lily said. "So what did you guys talk about?" "Nothing," Lily grumbled. "We argued...again." "About what?" Savannah sighed, leaning against the wall behind her, feeling sorry for Lily. "I'm not even sure...I thought I'd be okay with seeing him again, but I ended up lashing out at him for his stupid jealousy. I really didn't want to do that! I just want to be able to talk to him again...normally." "And maybe one day you'll get that chance," Savannah said gently. "Not anytime soon..." Lily muttered exasperatedly. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Cutest Couple Award goes to Sirius Black and Savannah Turner!" Dumbledore said, finishing up the awards. Savannah and Sirius went up to receive their award. "Most Likely to Succeed goes to Severus Snape!" Dumbledore said as a lot of the other people groaned as Snape went up to accept. "And finally The Male Forever Friends goes to..." Dumbledore was naming the very last award, "...Sirius Black and James Potter!" Everyone cheered and the two boys went up to accept it with grins and bows. "And now for my long, boring speech I'm sure some of you want to hear and the rest of you don't want to hear," Dumbledore joked. Everyone turned to him and either sat down at a table, or continued standing off to the sides. Lily, Savannah, Allie, Kaitlynne, Remus, Peter, Sirius, Daniel, Josh, James, Avril, and her best friends Georgette Crimson and Todd Huffy all took one of the biggest tables in the room. "Tonight is the moment of truth to what has been hidden these past five years in everyone's lives. People have obviously been very busy these past five years and I congratulate all of you. Out of the forty people that had graduated five years ago, there are three Aurors in the room, two teachers, three doctors, two actors, an actress, a model, three singers, three journalists, a photographer, two authors, a student who's on the ministry council, an owner of a restaurant, a land-creature researcher, a physicist, a sea trainer, a medicalist, a dragon specialist, an owl specialist, two housewives, two waiters, a secretary, an owner of a bookstore, an assistant manager at a joke shop, and I bet you all know who that is," Dumbledore said as everyone turned towards Sirius who grinned, "And finally the worst fate of them all, unfortunately...there are four deaths." "Okay, I'm leaving," Daniel whispered to Savannah, who laughed. "I would like to recognize those special four people who entered our lives and changed us forever," Dumbledore continued. Danny's eyes started to glisten, and Savannah noticed, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "These four exceptional people had made us smile, made us frown, made us laugh, made us cry, made us angry, made us happy, made us change on the inside and on the outside and they made us who we are today. Can we please just take a minute and recognize those four wonderful people: Jackson Carl Ritso, Cody Theodore Valentino, Leigha Heather Vancouver, and Minnie Jennifer Juniper." Daniel couldn't handle it anymore and stood up quickly and scurried out of the Great Hall. "Danny, wait!" Savannah cried after him, not caring if the whole Great Hall was staring at her now. She ran after him and followed him outside to the lake. He stood next to the lake, looking up at the beautiful moon and the bright, shining stars thinking about his wife...or his dead wife, as he thought about it haplessly. "Danny?" Savannah whispered, from a good distance behind him. "I never even had a chance to say good-bye," he said barely audible, on the verge of tears. Savannah had to step closer to hear him. "Oh, Danny," she said, rubbing his shoulders. "I mean, I saw her off at the airport and I watched her drift out of my sight thinking she'd be back in two and half months with a smile on her face, creating a smile on my face. I'd see how beautiful she was and how I couldn't wait to have her for the whole summer...instead, a month later, those thoughts came crashing down. I miss her...and I try to get over it, but every night I see her face in my dreams and I start trembling again. I'm trying to forget her...it's just not working." "Daniel, you don't have to forget her. She was your wife. But you do have to let go. You have so many more opportunities heading your way, and you're being tied down. It's not fair to you at all." Daniel sighed. "I know, Savannah." That took Savannah by surprise. "But then..." "Why do I still think about her all the time and why don't I do anything about it? Because I can't help who I love and unfortunately I can't help who dies. I can only help myself right now...and that's one person too many." "No, it's not," Savannah said. "You've got plenty of people who care about you and plenty of people who don't want to see you hurt." "I know, but those people scare me most. I mean, what happens if someone else close to me...dies?" "Don't think about that, Danny. Think about everything up to then. Do you want to go through life scared or do you want to go through like with a happy smile on and having fun?" "That's not the point, Savannah." "Do you know the point?" He turned to Savannah slowly and shook his head. "No, but I'm willing to find out." "And I'm willing to help you." "Savannah, I never told you this...in fact, I never told anyone this, but...well...I guess you could day that it's hard to let go because I'm not letting go of just her." "Huh?" "Two days before she left back for college, she told me she was pregnant," he said with a sigh. Savannah gasped. "Are you serious!?" He nodded, as a lump formed in his throat. "Yeah, and all I can think of now is that You-Know-Who took away my chance to have a child. My chance to be a father. And an even greater chance of being a better husband." Savannah had no idea what to say to him at that moment, and instead just walked over to him and gave him a long, gentle hug expressing how she felt and they ended up sitting out there talking for a good, long hour, not realizing it. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Fifty minutes after Dumbledore's speech, Sirius was off to the side after a talk with Remus, wondering where Savannah was. "Remus, where's Savannah? I've only dance with her four times tonight and I haven't talked to her much, either." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Sorry." "That's okay," he said. "Ask Lily. Or maybe James will know." He nodded as he walked over to Lily, who was talking to Allie and Josh. "Lily, where's Savannah?" Lily thought about it but ended up shaking her head. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her for a while." "Oh. Thanks anyway," he said with a grateful smile. "What about you guys?" Sirius asked Allie and Josh, who shook their heads. "Sorry, Si," Allie said. He glanced around the room, hoping for a glimpse of her, but when he couldn't find her still, he went to the corner near the exit door where James was with Avril. "Hey, James, have you seen Savannah lately?" James shook his head. "Nope, sorry. I haven't been noticing much tonight." "Except Lily," Sirius mumbled under his breath, turning around. "What?" James asked. "Oh, nothing," Sirius said sweetly, just as Kaitlynne entered through the main entrance. "Oh, hey Katyi. Have you seen Savannah?" "Oh, yeah. She's still outside with Daniel," she replied with a smile. Sirius stood there stunned, but said, "Okay, thanks." Savannah had to have been out there with Daniel for more than an hour! He couldn't believe that she'd rather talk to Daniel, than dance with him. He stormed outside to see Daniel and Savannah in a kind-hearted embrace. "Hey, I swear I know you from somewhere," Sirius said, pointing to Savannah. "Ugh, I just can't put my finger on it. Oh, wait!!! That's right, you're my girlfriend! Or I thought you were." Both Savannah and Daniel looked extremely confused, and Daniel stood up. "I think I'm going to go back inside," he said slowly. "Wait, Dan-"Savannah started. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea," Sirius said, cutting her off, so Daniel walked back inside with a confused look on his face. "Well, that was rude!" she immediately stated. "You should be talking!!" Sirius cried. "What!?" "Well, I've been looking for you for a while now and once I find you I see you with your arms around Daniel...the only guy you've been spending time with tonight!" "What are you talking about!? He just needed some support so I was giving it to him!" "I know, Vannie, but I haven't spoken to you practically all night," Sirius explained. "Just wait until your wife dies and then see how it feels, Sirius!!! He just needed a friend and guess what? I'm a friend!!!: "Well, you kinda forgot about your boyfriend, Vannie! You could've at least told me you were out here!" "Whoa, so now I have to check in every five minutes, father!" "Well, it would be nice to know where you are once and a while!" "Omigod!" Savannah cried. "I am not having this conversation with you, Si-Si!" "Yeah, well I'm having this conversation with you," he said. "I hate that when I come outside I find you talking to Daniel...no, make that hugging Daniel." "Do not take this out on him, Sirius Black! Just because you're jealous-" "Whoa, jealous? Why would I be jealous of him?" "Because I've been hanging out with him! You just said that!!" "No, maybe you're just being selfish! I wanted to have fun tonight! You know, chat, eat, dance, and just have fun...with you. But I've barely spoken a word to you all night. You've been spending too much time with Daniel!" "Just shut up about him!!" Savannah cried. "This isn't about him, it's about you!!" And she shoved right past him and stomped back into the Great Hall. She barely entered, when Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "How is this about me!?" Sirius cried, so that a quarter of the people in the Great Hall were turning their heads in their direction. "You're the one who doesn't seem to care!!" "I care plenty about you, but that doesn't mean I want you standing over me watching me when I'm hanging out with...friends!" "How would you like it if I spend the whole rest of the night with some other girl??" "Do whatever you want Sirius Black! If that's supposed to make me feel bad, go right ahead and try to prove me wrong!" she yelled, so now half of the people in the Great Hall were staring. "In fact, I would love you to do it because I would LOVE TO SEE YOU HUMILIATED!!!" she screamed and everyone was staring at them now. "FINE, MAYBE I WILL!" "FINE, SEE IF I GIVE A DAMN, SIRIUS BLACK! IN FACT, WHILE YOU'RE AT IT MAYBE YOU CAN THROW YOURSELF INTO A DUMPSTER AND MAKE MY JOB A LITTLE EASIER!" Savannah screamed, before whirling around and walking across the room towards Kaitlynne, Remus, Allie, and Josh in one corner, and she left a smirk on Sirius' satisfied face, who was walking towards Georgette Crimson. "Oooh, boy," Remus muttered from one side of the room. "Uh-oh," Lily mumbled, from another corner. "And yet another break-up," a grinning Snape muttered from behind Lily. "Shut up, Snape," Lily said, turning around. "Oooh, sticking up for you friends once again, I see. And this time no James Potter to bail you out." "I don't need anyone to bail me out. I need you to get out of my face." "Let's see...maybe I will...if you dance with me once." Lily was about to laugh in his face, but had a better idea. "Hmmm..." she pondered with a sweet, innocent smile. "I think I'd rather run over a goose in the woods, throw it into the mud, pluck all of his feathers out of his body, and then kiss it before I even touch that dance floor with you," she replied, spinning around and away from him. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Ugh! Lily, he's just being paranoid and stupid and...jealous," Savannah was explaining, not caring that Sirius was on the dance floor with Georgette, and has been for the past thirty minutes. "He just doesn't understand," Lily explained. "I know! And that's what annoys me most about him!!! Why doesn't he just trust me!?" "Guys really need to learn how to do that," Lily mumbled disgustingly, staring over at James. "Huh?" Savannah said, realizing she was staring at James. "Nothing," she said. "You know...you never actually told me what happened with you and James," she said slyly. Lily sighed. "This isn't about me." "I'm tired of talking about my problem. I don't care what Sirius thinks. He just needs to get over himself. Tomorrow morning maybe I'll find the chance to talk to him. Not right now, though, because we're both angry and I don't want to say anything we'll regret. So, let's talk about you for a moment." "James...er...he got jealous that I was hanging out with a bunch of Andy's guy friends the day after we all thought he had died." "Seriously???" she cried in disgust. "That's so stupid!! First of all, you didn't know he was dead and you weren't about to make-out with some other guy," she said, "...right?" Lily laughed. "Of course not, you dolt!" "Okay, and then second of all, I figure you just wanted to have a nice evening without thinking of him, anyway, right?" Lily laughed again. "You know me so well, Savannah." "Ugh, why are all guys jealous when their girlfriend hangs out with someone else!?" she cried frustrated. "I don't care if he hangs out you, or Kaitlynne, or Allie, or...or Georgette." "Yeah...why is he hanging out with her?" Lily wondered, glancing over where Sirius and Georgette were dancing together, smiling and laughing. Savannah rolled her eyes. "He thinks that I'll get jealous for ignoring me and for him hanging out with her all night because of the whole Daniel thing. He's trying to prove me wrong, and I think it's stupid. It's just all part of his dumb plan," Savannah explained, rolling her eyes again. Lily looked past Savannah at Sirius, and her eyes clouded over. "Um...was that part of his plan?" Lily asked nervously, pointing towards him. Savannah turned around and saw Georgette and Sirius on the dance floor, swaying to a slow song...and kissing................... Harry stepped out. So Sirius could be a dumb ass sometimes.
He started wondering why his father decided to become animagi. Sure to help Remus but it was probably because they were "Marauders." Then Harry opened a book with a certain mischievous grin.
~*~
The next day, Hermione and Ron noticed that Harry was even more worn out than usual.
"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.
"Nothing," said Harry blandly.
"Then why are you so tired all of a sudden?" said Hermione curiously.
"I...uhh...was up reading some books for ideas about...uhh...Voldemort," said Harry messing with his hair.
"Oh, well we could help you," said Hermione convinced.
"Well, you can't exactly..."
"Oh don't be silly Harry, we'll go down to the library right now won't we Ron," said Hermione eyeing him very strictly.
"But, but..."
"See you at lunch Harry," and she dragged Ron out to the library.
Hermione and Ron were busily looking through books.
"Hermione, I'm hungry, can't we take a break and say...go eat lunch?" pleaded Ron.
"In a little bit, just let me finish this book, I think I may have actually found something."
They heard snickers from behind.
"Malfoy."
"Weasel, mudblood."
"Just leave us alone Malfoy."
"You think your stupid spells are going to kill the Dark Lord?" spat Malfoy.
"What are you talking about?"
"Hah! Potty didn't even tell you, I'm sure he knows-"
"About what?"
"The prophecy."
"That broke-"
"You think that just because it was in the Department of Mysteries that know one knew what it said? Please mudblood I thought you were smarter than that, use your brains," said Malfoy walking away.
Hermione got angry and red in the face when Malfoy waltzed away.
"I have had enough of him," said Hermione furiously.
"Me too, I say we turn him into a ferret again and..."
"I'm talking about Harry, Ron. He never tells us anything anymore," said Hermione and she left to the common rooms.
Not know what to do, Ron went off to the Great Hall to find Harry. As soon as he sat down, Dumbledore silenced them.
"As you know, today is Halloween and tonight will be our Halloween dance starting sharply at seven. That is all."
Harry and Ron turned to each other and grinned, making everyone else at the table wonder what they were up to.
The rest of the day was boredom for the two, sitting through all of their classes. Finally, the end of the day came and they ran up to "get ready."
