A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!! I told you this would be a quick update, and I was right!! The first chapter just gave you the basics of everyone's life and job and home etc. etc. This chapter is mostly about James' birthday with a few surprises, and trust me the story gets a lot better than it is now J So review and keep reading!!
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Anything that's not mine is J.K. Rowling's (which is most of it J), and everything else is mine.
MEMORIES
CHAPTER 2: A Birthday Disappointment
Written by Foxy
"He said it was the best broom there is for flying and I know he wants it. He just refuses to ask for it," Lily commented as she and Savannah were staring at the Z-4 Rollerball in the window of the broom shop later that day.
"Lily, it costs way too much! How are you going to pay for it?" Savannah asked.
"I do have money, Savannah, and I'm getting a job soon. It's all going to work out."
Savannah rolled her eyes with a grin. "You love him that much to spend your savings on him?"
"No…I love him more," Lily said. She just wanted to make him happy so that telling him she had to move halfway across the country would be easier. She started fishing for excuses. "It's the first birthday we've celebrated as a couple ever and I just want to make him happy."
"It can't be the first birthday."
"It's true. It always seems that whenever we're broken up it's always around his birthday…or Halloween, for some reason. And we've been going out for officially a year, our longest relationship come June 1. It was our first anniversary and hopefully our last," Lily said, smiling, remembering last year.
~ ~ ~ ~ F L A S H B A C K ~ ~ ~ ~
Lily was alone on June 1 of 1980 (a year before now) trying to forget their anniversary considering they weren't going out at the time and she figured they wouldn't ever date again since she hadn't spoken to him since a year beforehand at Remus' family's reunion barbecue, to which Remus' friends were all invited to.
Lily was humming to herself, while vacuuming the living room, happy that it was finally Saturday and she could forget about the internship for a while. The internship was so much fun and she was learning a lot about writing and publishing she ever thought was possible, but it was always fun to have a weekend to herself. Especially this weekend, which brought her thinking about how glad she was that Sirius had a teacher's convention in Vienna, Austria this specific weekend. She was keeping herself busy, mainly because she didn't want to remember that six years earlier to that date was when James and Lily realized they were meant to be. Snape pushed Lily into the lake and James went in after her, although they still despised each other at the time. They both got out, water dripping to the ground and that's when they realized that they never hated each other but that they've always had feeling for each other. He asked her out right then and there, and she said yes. Very romantic…and quite wet, as well. She frowned at the thought, suddenly remembering that they weren't dating anymore and they probably weren't going to be dating again.
She wasn't sure of her feelings towards James anymore. If he wasn't being sweet, then he was being stupid and she often found herself yelling at him for doing dumb things. She sighed at herself for about the hundredth time that day. She hasn't seen him since last July, and even though they weren't dating, they didn't exactly hate each other and it would have been nice to see him occasionally. She sighed again, and tried to get her mind off of him for a while. She kept dusting and vacuuming, until she heard a knock at the door. She turned off the vacuum, and went to the door and opened it.
Her mouth dropped open when she saw who was there. "J-James!" she gasped.
"Hey, Lily," was all he said.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, still extremely confused. She would have thought he'd be anywhere but there at the moment.
He kind of looked at the ground for a second. "Actually…I'm not quite sure."
"Oh…well, Sirius isn't here," she said, saying the only thing that really came to mind.
James gave Lily a look-over for a split second and hesitated before talking. "Um…I know. I…I didn't come here for him."
"You just said you didn't know why you were here."
"Well, I do and I don't."
"Then why don't you tell me what you do know?" Lily asked, getting frustrated. She wasn't exactly thrilled that James was standing on her front stoop on their ex-anniversary and he wanted to talk to her. Any other day and she might have considered giving him a welcoming smile or whatnot, but this just felt awkward.
"Well…" James said breathlessly. He pulled out his hand behind his back and brought forth a huge bouquet of yellow roses—Lily's favorite. "Um…Happy Anniversary?" he said, looking as if he wasn't sure why he just did that.
Lily gasped. "Th-thanks, James," she said, now completely puzzled, taking the roses and smelling them. She held them in her hand using them as an excuse not to say anything. She eventually looked over the roses to where James was standing. "I didn't get you anything."
"I didn't expect you to. Actually…I'm not sure why I got them in the first place."
Lily looked up at James with hesitation in her eyes, but she said what she wanted to say anywise. "James, I don't mean for this to sound rude, but why are you doing this? I mean, I haven't seen you for almost a year now and we've been perfectly happy with our living arrangements since then and I know that I haven't exactly thought about you much lately, and here I am standing across from you with yellow roses in my hand that you gave me for our Anniversary that happened five years ago. I don't know about you, but I'm just a little confused."
James looked at her for a second, before realizing what he really came for. "Lily, do you want to know the real reason why I'm standing here across from you?"
"Yes, that would be nice."
"I'm here for this," he answered, pulling her in for one of his special, sweet, mysterious, soft, gentle, loving, daring, unique kisses that she hasn't felt for about a year and a half now. And you know what? She melted right into it and realized that her and James were always meant to be.
~ ~ ~ ~ E N D O F F L A S H B A C K ~ ~ ~ ~
And they've been together ever since, and neither one of them regretted any second of it.
"It's the perfect gift, Savannah," Lily repeated.
"You know he'll love anything you get him, right?"
"Yes, but he'll love this even more."
Savannah smiled gently. "You know he has the best girlfriend ever, right?"
"No…I just have the best boyfriend ever."
*~*~*~*~*
"I just need to stop in and talk to Lily for a few minutes," Sirius said.
"Why? You see her everyday," James commented.
"No, I haven't seen her since yesterday morning because I spent the night with Remus yesterday and today we went to Diagon Alley for some…fun," Sirius said mysteriously.
"Fine, whatever. If we don't hurry though, we're going to be late to the movie," James pointed out.
Sirius walked into his cottage, and flickered on the lights.
"SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES!!!" everyone cried.
James practically jumped out of his skins. "Holy shit!" he screamed. Everyone in the room laughed.
"Hey, sweetie," Lily said, coming up behind him and giving him a kiss.
"I can't believe it. I didn't think you actually knew my birthday!" he said.
"I know what you mean," she said, remembering her conversation with Savannah the day before.
"Who put it all together?" he asked.
"Sirius and I planned it, but Savannah, Peter, and Remus helped with everything today," she replied.
"Aww, thank you! I've never had a surprise birthday before," he said, giving Lily another kiss and giving Sirius a hug.
"Thank God you kissed her and you hugged me," he muttered, and all three of them laughed.
"It seems like a Hogwarts reunion in here!" James cried.
"Hey, James!!!" Eden Gauche said, giggling. "It's been too long. We simply must hang out next time I'm in London," she said with her rich, snobby voice.
"Yes, that would be simply marvelous," James replied mocking her, which Eden didn't get at all. She left with a swift wave of her wrist and all three of them laughed. "I swear if you tell me Snape is here, I might have to kill you guys."
"Um…could you possibly kill Lily first so I have time to run?" Sirius joked.
"Excuse me! He loves me! You're just his friend," Lily teased.
Sirius turned towards James. "Your friend? Is that all I am to you, James? Is this true?" Sirius asked, clutching his heart. "Please, it can't be! I'm too young to die!"
"You're also too stupid for us to love you," Lily said jokingly.
"Tell me again…why do I live here?" he asked, and all three of them laughed.
"Happy birthday James," Remus said as he and Peter made their way over to them.
"Thanks," he said. He was about to say something else, but someone else came up behind him and tapped on his shoulder.
"Happy birthday, man," Foster Jenkins said. "I heard you were going into the Auror business. Is it true?"
"Well, I'm majoring to be an Auror at London University for Dark Art Magic and I have a pretty good shot at hopefully finding an Auror job soon, but nothing's definite yet."
"That's awesome. I always knew you'd become an Auror," he said, walking off to mingle with everyone else in the room.
*~*~*~*~*
"Okay, and one last birthday song from the birthday man and his band itself!" Lily said into the microphone. She was glad that the living room was enough space for the Marauders to play and for everyone else to dance after she cleared everything out.
(A/N: Yes, the Marauders have a band...somewhat. If I want them to have a band, then they'll have a band J Actually, it just makes the next part a little more emotional than it already is….)
With Remus jamming on the drums, Peter playing on the acoustic guitar, James playing a bass guitar with back-up singing usually, and Sirius playing a bass quitar and singing, and occasionally they have Savannah singing for them, they were actually very excellent and have had gigs here and there to which they've gathered tons of money to pay for plenty of things that they've needed to pay for, including school, rent, and bills and of course the occasional spending money!! Now, doesn't that sounds fun!?
"The next song, I wrote inspired from my beautiful girlfriend, Lily Evans. In fact, she inspires me everyday, and I just wanted to write a song to show how much she means to me. So this next song, is brand new but I hope you all enjoy, and I'm sorry if it's too slow for your tastes and too mushy, but that's what love is," he said laughing. Everyone in the room laughed or groaned. "I also want to thank Savannah Turner for singing with us tonight. Let's give her a big round of applause!" Everyone in the room started cheering, clapping, whistling, and hooting for her. "So, here it goes, 'End of Time.' Lily, I love you, babe, and I hope you'll never forget it," he said winking at Lily. "A 1…a 2…a 1 2 3 4!!"
"Waking at the crack of dawn," James sang this time.
"I know you'll always love me
Just staring down at the incoming sunrise
I realize that I'm lucky"
Together, him and Sirius harmonized, "You're my girl, let's always keep it that way
We're perfect, and that's the way it should stay
Hold me forever, we'll be together
Until the end of time"
Savannah started singing, "Still awake at midnight
We'll never be apart
Just staring at the beautiful, shining stars
You'll always be in my heart"
Savannah, James, and Sirius all sang a harmonized trio, "You're my girl, I will love you 'til I die
We're perfect, up until we say good-bye
Kiss me forever, we'll be together
Until the end of time"
They continued on with their harmonization, "You're my girl, and we'll always make it through
We're perfect, through no matter what we do
Love me forever, we'll be together
Until the end of time"
The world seems so small, when we're in love
You are the one I'm always thinking of
With you in my heart, nothing can go wrong
With you in my arms, our love will stay strong
"Hold me forever," Sirius sang.
"Kiss me forever," Savannah sang.
"Love me forever," James sang, staring right at Lily.
Together, they finished the short, but sweet song, "Until the end of time."
Everyone in the room was yelling and cheering them on and congratulating them on doing such an excellent job as Lily stood in the back with the tears springing to her face. That was one of the most romantic things he's ever done to her and here she was feeling guilty that she hadn't told him yet about her big move yet. She sighed, knowing there was never going to be a right time for it. She knew she had to get it over with. And she wanted to tell him first so the longer she waited, the longer everyone else would find out.
*~*~*~*~*
"Thanks for coming, Marissa. Bye Zach. Bye Henry," Lily said, holding the door open for the few remaining guests who were finally leaving. "Bye Gessica! Talk to you later, Mandarin." She closed the door. "Whew! Finally, some peace and quiet."
"Nope, with me around, there's never peace and quiet," Sirius said.
Lily laughed. "Okay, that's it. Get out!" she cried, and they both laughed.
"Yeah, do us all a favor, and listen to her," Savannah said, who was helping Remus put back the couch.
They all laughed. Remaining in their house was Lily, Sirius, Remus, Savannah, James, and Peter and they all helped put back the furniture and helped clean up the huge mess left in Sirius' and Lily's cottage.
"I know I already thanked you all like a thousand times, but thanks again, guys," James said, with his arm around Lily's waist in the entranceway after everything was cleaned up, the trash was taken out, the room was back together, and they were all sitting back, or standing up, admiring their hard work for the past hour.
"It was fun. I'm glad we could have a party here," Lily said smiling up at him.
"I'm also glad I played today. I haven't picked up my guitar in so long!" he cried, and they all grinned up at him.
"Yeah, and you did so terribly today for not playing in a while," Sirius said sarcastically. They all laughed again, and Lily and James plopped on to the couch next to Sirius.
"You have to open our gifts now, James!" Savannah said energetically from sitting on the ground.
"Whoa, if you stop being so hyper, then maybe I'll open the gifts!" James said, laughing.
"If I didn't stop, would you not open your gifts?" she said laughing.
"No, I definitely still would," James replied, and they all laughed.
*~*~*~*~*
He opened Savannah's gift which was a book, The Art of Aurorism and Dark Arts, and Remus' and Peter's gift which was a Zonko's gift certificate and a 50-pack of Filibusters and Dung Bombs, and Sirius' gift, 1,000 Ways to Annoy Your Girlfriend Using Charms.
"How about I take this?" Lily said, trying to grab it away from him.
"No way, this could be useful!" James said, and Lily had to laugh, as did everyone else.
"Here," Lily said handing him a huge package.
He look interested, and started to unwrap it. He took of the top of the huge box and instantly gasped. "Oh, my God, Lily!"
"I knew you'd like it," Lily said with a huge grin on her face.
"I-I do love it…but it must have cost a fortune!" James said with a confused look on his face.
"It was worth it," Lily said smiling.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, interested in what must have cost her a fortune. James took the broomstick out of the box, and Remus, Sirius, and Peter gasped as well.
"Lily, I…I…I don't know what to say," James said. He didn't want to say it, but even though she was getting a job soon, he knew she spent way too much for him and as much as he had wanted the broomstick so much, he felt a little guilty. He never would have expected anyone to get it for him and wondered why she did it.
"James, I know you're thinking I shouldn't have bought it for you, but I'm not broke or anything! And I know you deserve it and that's all that matters," Lily explained.
"Thank you so much, Lily," James said breathlessly, turning towards her and giving her a short, but sweet, kiss on the mouth. Lily kissed him back, still feeling guilty that she hadn't told him yet. She knew he must be a little suspicious to why she bought it for him.
*~*~*~*~*
"I'll see you tomorrow night, right guys?" James said to Remus and Peter.
"I can't," Peter said. "I…I have to go back to Scandinavia to resolve some business issues."
"What about you, Remus?" Sirius asked. "Movie tomorrow night?"
"I'm not sure if I have to work yet. They're still trying to figure out if Igor's cancer is contagious and if it is then I might have to go into the lab."
"Igor has cancer? That's so sad!" Sirius said. "Wait…do I know an Igor?
They all laughed. "He was hatched on Friday in Argentina with liver cancer and bladder irritation, so they brought him back to London so he could be with the experienced professionals and I'm helping in the lab," Remus explained.
"Okay, well, just call us tomorrow," James said.
"Okay," Remus said. "Talk to you later!"
"Hey, James, do you want to take a walk around the block with me?" Lily asked, coming up behind him.
"A walk? Is that what it's called nowadays?" Sirius muttered, and they all laughed.
"It's two o'clock in the morning," he pointed out.
"A perfect time to go walking!" Sirius cried, laughing.
"Then why don't we go for a walk?" Savannah asked Sirius with a grin on her face.
"Now, when you say walk, is that like a James-and-Lily walk, or…just a regular walk?" Sirius wondered.
"It's a Sirius-and-Savannah walk," she replied with a grin.
"Is that the same thing as a James-and-Lily walk?"
"No," Savannah replied.
"Can we make it a James-and-Lily walk?" Sirius teased.
"Nope," Savannah replied with a grin.
"You're no fun…but just because you're you, let's go for an S-and-S walk," he said, and they both left. James and Lily laughed at them as they walked down the stairs and on to the street.
Lily closed the door to the cottage, and grabbed James' hand to walk in the opposite direction of Sirius and Savannah. They just walked hand-in-hand in silence for a few minutes, before Lily finally sighed and decided to get it over with.
"James, I have something really important to tell you," she started.
"What is it, Lily? What's wrong?" he asked, genuinely worried.
"Nothing's wrong…I don't think. I-I'm not sure. This is one of the hardest things I've ever really had to tell anyone," she continued.
"You're not breaking up with me, are you?" James asked, alarmed.
Lily laughed. "No……Well…" she trailed off, thinking about the situation. She didn't want to break up, but what if James wanted to? She shook away that thought. "No, I'm not."
"You're not dying, are you?" he asked.
Lily laughed again. "No, James!"
"You're not pregnant, are you!?!?"
"James!!" she cried, laughing. "I'm not any of those, so don't worry! Just let me tell you what I have to tell you!"
He laughed. "Okay, okay. Continue."
"Well, the good news it that I've got a definite job with Random House for Wizardry," she started.
"Lily, that's great!" James said, as he stopped walking and gave her a hug.
"—In America," she ended, as James wrapped his arms around her.
He immediately pulled away and gave her a look. "What?" he asked surprised.
"Yeah, the job is at Random House for Wizardry in California," she explained.
"But then…then you'd have to move to California?" he asked.
Lily simply nodded, since she couldn't speak due to the huge lump formed in her throat and the tears already forming in her eyelids. She thought it would have been a little easier to tell him, but now she's realizing that she won't be able to see him much that much during the year.
James wasn't sure of what to say so he started walking ahead of Lily.
"James, wait," she said, catching up to him.
James didn't say anything. He faced forwards, still in shock.
"James…" Lily said, grabbing his arm.
"You can't move to California!!" he cried unexpectedly.
Lily was taken aback that he said something. "Wh-what? Why? I have to, James. I don't want to, but I have to."
"No…you can't," James said, with a shaky voice, blinking away the tears that were starting to form. He didn't want Lily to see him to cry. "I won't get to see you, Lily!"
That's when Lily started to cry. "I know, James!! That's the worst about it all, but this is my future! I can't just give this up for my boyfriend. I can't let anything stand in my way of my dream, James!"
"But…well, when are you leaving?"
"May 24. We still have about a month."
"No we don't. Considering I still have school and you still have the internship, we have probably two days to hang out between now and then."
"What about my birthday? You said you'd take up that weekend to come down and see me!"
"Fine, four days then!"
"James, I've wanted this for years now and this could be my big break!"
"But, what if it isn't? What would you do then?"
"I'd move back to England and start over again."
"But…why can't you just stay in England and find another job?"
"James, Random House for Wizardry is the best publishing company in the world! There's nothing better than this!"
"So are you saying there's nothing better enough so that you get everything you want?" James said, a bit too crossly.
Lily started crying more, realizing that he wasn't upset, he was angry and that it was probably hurting him more than it was hurting her. "James, I just want you to understand that I love you so much and I don't want to hurt you, and-"
"It's a little too late for that, isn't it, Lily?" James cried angrily. "My girlfriend moving halfway across the country isn't supposed to hurt me?"
Lily couldn't believe how selfish he was being, but she didn't want to start a fight with him. "James, this is my career! This is what I'm good at! I can't give that up!"
"Not even for me?" James asked selfishly, knowing he was crossing the line.
"No, not even for you, James! James, you're going to become a famous Auror and everyone in the magic world is going to look up to you! If you had to move to America to uphold that reputation, I'd completely understand! It would completely and utterly suck, but I know that it was your job and that's it's one of the most important things to you! I'd totally support you wherever you'd go!"
"Yeah, but I'd take you with me, Lily," James pointed out. "You can't take me with you because my job's here in England and this is where I belong!"
"Yeah, let's just blame this all on the fact that I can't take you with me, James! Let's blame me for this because you know exactly how ecstatic I am to be moving half-way around the world!!" Lily cried, a little too harshly.
"Hey, don't yell at me! I'm not the one who's moving to California!"
"Yeah, but I'm not the one who's being a selfish jerk!!!!" Lily cried.
James turned to look at her with an angry look on his face. "I don't need this right now, Lily. It's my birthday and I'd like to have a happy one. I guess that was too much to ask for," he said, hitting Lily right where it hurt. "I'm apparating home. Tell Sirius thanks for the birthday party," he said crossly. And two seconds later, he was gone and Lily sat on the curb of the road bawling her eyes out. She was not expecting it to go that way at all. She at least thought he'd be a little supportive.
A/N: YAY!! 2nd chapter over and done with. Now…hmm, what could make me happy? Oh, that's right—review!! Watch out for the quick updates, as well! J
