A/N: Yay!!!!  New chapter!  Sorry it took so long.  I've been extremely busy lately and then my computer broke down and took over a week to fix, which screwed up a lot of things for me, but here it is, up and running!  And here I am, up and posting!  Thanks to all of you who reviewed my story and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!!

Oh, and by the way in the last chapter, I forgot to say that the song was "Graduation Song (Friends Forever)" by Vitamin C.

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah.  You know the drill.  Anyone who you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.  Everything else belongs to me.

MEMORIES

CHAPTER 5: No…It All Started Here

Written by Foxy

            Lily walked back inside watching Vivian fly into the night and heard a creaking sound as the front door opened.  She turned off the kitchen light hastily, and hid behind the kitchen wall, wondering who the hell was trying to break in.

            The person walked in, and unfortunately, it was too dark to tell who it was, but she grabbed an umbrella on the kitchen counter and jumped out.  "Hold it right there!!!!" she yelled.

            "HOLY SHIT!!" he cried.

            "Sirius?" Lily said, realizing who it was.  She flicked on the entranceway lights and started laughing.  "Oops."

            Sirius started laughing, as well.  "It's a good thing you didn't have a gun or I might have jumped out of the window."

            "I decided not to use the gun today," she replied, and they both laughed.  "Why were out so late?  And where's Savannah?"

             "Uh…" he stuttered.

            "Oh, wait.  Did you and Savannah have sex in a restaurant again?" Lily teased.  Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Lily cried, "No, wait!!!  I don't want to know the answer to that question!!"

            Sirius laughed and simply said, "Savannah met up with her aunt in Lisbon, and-"

            "You were in Lisbon?"

            Sirius laughed.  "Yes.  She wanted to see her Aunt Susie, so we went to Lisbon and hung out for a while, and she went to her aunt's house as I went to James' at around midnight.  I figured you'd be there but obviously I was wrong."

            "I probably just left." 

            "Yeah, I figured.  What are you doing up at three in the morning?"

            "Uh…just sending letters to a few people," she said.  She didn't want to tell him who or he might have thought she had gone insane…even though he probably already thinks she has. J

            "At three in the morning?"

            She laughed.  "I couldn't sleep!"

            "Ohhh…so, like everyone else, you decided that it was the right time to write letters to a few people."

            "Exactly!  You understand me perfectly."

            "Perfectly? No.  Strangely, yes."  They both laughed.

            "Are you going up to bed now?" Lily asked him.

            Sirius turned to her.  "I don't know.  I'm not tired at all."

            "Lemme guess.  You and James went to the bar again tonight."

            "Of course we did!  What else would we do?"

            "Not get drunk?"

            "Now what fun is that???"

            Lily rolled her eyes at him.  "You are one funny guy, Sirius…funny-looking, that is."

            Sirius pouted.  "Hey!"  They both laughed.  Sirius wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator as Lily took a Diet Pepsi and they sat down on the couch laughing and talking about everything.

            "Hey, Lily, why couldn't you sleep?" Sirius asked about fifteen minutes later after talking about the sixth-year Yule Ball where Sirius spiked the punch and everyone, including the professors, got drunk and had an extremely fun time, with Dumbledore standing off to the side, wondering what the heck was going on.

            Lily must have looked confused because Sirius laughed and said, "Tonight.  You said you couldn't sleep.  Why not?  And please don't say because you and James had sex in his bedroom."

            Lily laughed.  "I already used that one with you and Savannah, you have to pick another joke."

            Sirius laughed.  "Okay, please don't say it's because you were making out with your boyfriend's best friend in the closet in his room," Sirius changed.

            "Sirius, you're his best friend."

            "Damnit, nothing's good enough for you!" Sirius joked and they both laughed.  "So are you going to answer the question?"

            Lily sighed, not really wanting to discuss it.  "It was nothing.  I just couldn't sleep."

            "Lily, I've lived with your for three years, and you could sleep through a volcano, tornado, and hurricane all happening at once even after having a nasty break-up with James and after you were sleeping for forty-two hours!!  Don't tell me now you just couldn't sleep.  I may look dumb, but I'm not as dumb as people think I am…well, I'm not that dumb at least."

            Lily cracked a weak smile and tried to forget about the upcoming move to California, but she couldn't help it.  I mean, it would change her whole life!  And it wasn't that she didn't want to tell Sirius because she knew that if she told Sirius about everything that was going through her mind, he wouldn't tell anyone.  She and Sirius had occasional late-night talks, one about Animagi and werewolves after Lily found out about Remus and the other three being Animagi.  Then there was a late-night talk about another break-up of hers and James.  Another brought up the subject of Savannah and her boyfriend at the time.  There were a few about the future and where their lives were heading.  Their last one was about the memories at Hogwarts and mostly about Allie and Kaitlynne, who they hadn't seen for the longest time.  Every time they talked, they kept it to themselves and never told anyone, and no one even knew they talked late at night and/or early in the morning.  They respected each other more than everyone thought.  Sirius always knew what was on Lily's mind, and vice versa.  It was as if they were brother and sister…or as if they shared the same mind-frame.  They always admitted that it was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't their current partner.  Actually, their talks usually get around to trouble in paradise.

            "Lily…" Sirius said.  "Listen, you don't have to tell me anything, but I'm always here and you know I'll listen and you know that everything we say is confidential."

            Lily turned towards him and suddenly burst into an explanation.  "Sirius, when I move to California, everything's going to change.  My whole life will be different!  England has been my home for the past twenty-two years. This is where I belong.  I don't want to move to America…" she mumbled.  "And yet I do.  I'm just…I'm going to miss everything here.  This morning I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about every single memory possible from Hogwarts and then graduation and the graduation dance.  And then there was that summer afterward in which was probably some of the best memories I'll ever have.  And then all the parties and get-togethers and everything after Hogwarts up until now.  It sucks, Sirius, realizing that this will be the last months I'll be living in England," Lily said, breaking down and eventually sobbing hysterically. 

            Sirius moved over closer to her to give her a soothing, relaxing hug and let her lean back into his arms while he comforted her.  "Yes, there have been so many memories here, but you're going to have tons in California, also!  Lily, it's definitely going to be different here without you, and we're all going to manage, and you're going to manage in California.  You're going to become a famous publisher one day and I'm going to be able to tell people 'Hey!  That's Lily Potter, and-"

            "Potter?" she questioned.

            "Oh, please, you two are going to get married one day," Sirius said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and they both laughed.  "Anyway, I'll be saying 'Hey!  That's Lily Potter and I used to date her!'" Sirius cried.

            Lily looked up at him with a strange look on her face.  "What??  We never dated!"

            "Yeah, I know, but it would make me more popular to have dated a famous publisher."

            Lily cracked up.  "Oh, so all in all, you're the one who benefits?"

            "Well, duh.  I'm all that ever matters!"

            They both laughed and Lily said seriously, "Um…I don't really want to think about this, but what are you going to do about the house?  Are you going to try to find someone else to live with?  Or…are you going to move to an apartment?  Or…what?"

            Sirius thought about it for a few seconds.  "You know, I didn't think about it until now."

            "Yeah, I didn't think about it until about an hour ago."

            "Maybe James or Savannah could move in after their last year of college or something.  I don't know; I'll think of something.  For now, let's not think about it."

            "Yeah, that sounds good to me," Lily said, shivering because of the breeze that suddenly swept through the room.

            Sirius grabbed the blanket draped over the couch and gave it to her.  "Here."

            Lily smiled.  "Thanks.  Sirius, I'm never going to find anyone as good as you to move in with."

            "I know," he joked, and Lily hit him playfully.  "And what happened to not thinking about it?" he teased.

            Lily sighed.  "I can't help not to think about it.  I mean, what else am I going to think about?  The beautiful birds chirping outside?" she asked sarcastically.

            Sirius hesitated before answering.  "There are no birds chirping outside now."

            Lily laughed.  "I know.  It's not even four a.m. Sirius.  I would hope that there weren't any birds awake."

            Sirius laughed.  "Do you remember the time we accidentally turned the pincushions into porcupines during Transfiguration class…what was it, second year?"

            "It was third year, and what are you talking about 'accidentally??'" Lily accused.

            "Okay, okay it was purposely.  What's the difference!?"

            "Do you really want me to answer that?" Lily asked, and they both laughed.

            "Lily, what's one of your favorite memories at Hogwarts?" Sirius unexpectedly asked.

            "I have to pick one?" she said laughing.  "Let's think…well, graduation of course, then there was the graduation dance, then the time James asked me out for the first time and our first date, then there was the second year snow-in, then there was the time I found out about you guys being Animagi, and-"

            Sirius burst into laughter, remembering the time that Lily was almost bitten by Remus in the Forbidden Forest and was saved by a stag and a black dog.  She was screaming and James and Sirius transformed themselves back into humans, forgetting they were transformed into their Animagi, and had to explain the whole situation.  In the end, they were all laughing and Lily swore not to tell anyone.

            Lily paused before continuing.  "No, you know what?  Besides graduation, of course, my favorite memory was the time that the eight of us all first met…and became friends."

            "That was different times, though.  You hated us in the beginning," Sirius pointed out.

            "I know, but I can't choose just one."

            Sirius laughed.  "And how is us throwing water balloons at you your favorite memory?"

            Lily shrugged.  "It was just a reminder of how stupid and idiotic you were back then."

            "HEY!"

            "Sirius, you thought that turning a girl's hair green and putting a dungbomb in their books was a turn-on in your first and second year."

            Sirius laughed.  "Well, I thought the color green was rather attractive!"

            "We're not dinosaurs!"

            "Oh…my mistake."

            "SIRIUS!" Lily cried, laughing.

~ ~ ~ ~ F L A S H B A C K ~ ~ ~ ~

            "Oh come on!  I know you like Tim.  Admit it," Lily said laughing at Kaitlynne during their first year in the commons room two hours before Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.  Lily, Kaitlynne, Savannah, and Allie all stayed that Christmas with three other Gryffindors, two Ravenclaws, two Slytherins and five Hufflepuffs.

            "Tim is…nice.  But he's just a friend!" Kaitlynne explained.

            "Well, you spend an awful lot of time with him for just friends," Savannah accused.

            "Well, I spend an awful lot of time with you guys but I hope I'm not dating one of you!" she replied, and they all laughed.  "And what about Allie!  I swear she's in love with Josh Matthews."

            Allie started gagging.  "Are you kidding me???  The first time I laid eyes on him, I knew he was trouble."

            "Aww, come on.  You two are always flirting," Lily pointed out.

            "Flirting???  He turned my hair puke green the first time I met him!  How is that flirting?"

            "He wants you," Savannah said.

            "I don't want him to want me!  In fact, I'd die perfectly happy just to see him humiliate himself in front of the whole damn school!!  I'd die perfectly happy knowing if I never had to see him or speak to him ever again!"

            "Do you know of a little thing called 'denial?'" Lily questioned.

            "Yeah, it's a river in the Amazon," Allie muttered, and they all laughed.

            Kaitlynne opened her mouth to protest, when suddenly she was splashed directly in the face with a water balloon.  "EEEK!!" she squealed, jumping up behind the chair as Lily was suddenly hit with one and Savannah was hit with two.  They both jumped behind the couch before being able to see who was throwing the balloons.

            "What's going on!?" Allie cried, crawling under the stone table, after being smashed directly in the back with a water balloon.

            Lily immediately pulled out her wand and whispered, "Florenzio."  A mirror suddenly appeared, and she put it at an angle so she could see who was throwing them.  She saw the three faces, which belonged to three guys, and they were all laughing.  Two of them had messy black hair, one with glasses, the other shorter, and another guy who had blonde hair and who was about a head taller than the other two guys.  She had no idea who they were, though she figured they were Gryffindors and she guessed they were first years, maybe second years.

            "I have an idea," Kaitlynne whispered.  "Tormos!" she whispered, and she ended up with a patch of snowballs by her side.  She grabbed one, slid behind the table and threw it over at one of them.

            "HEY!" the short black-haired guy cried.  "That wasn't part of the plan!"

            "Sirius, grab that cushion!" the tall blonde called out.  So the first one was Sirius, the girls all made mental notes.

            "Remus, there are three cushions!"  Tall blonde is Remus, the girls made another mental note.

            "Grab them all!!" another voice cried.

            "James, I have three water balloons in my hand!  I can't carry three cushions!" Sirius cried.  And last is James! their last mental note for the evening. 

            "Use your wand!!" James cried.  The three boys all laughed as Sirius did what they told him to do.

            Allie started throwing snowballs at them, one after the other, hitting the black-haired glasses guy smack in the face with two.

            Lily started laughing as her head formed an idea.  "Islamio!" and a second later, a HUGE pile of snow fell from the ceiling and on to the three boys, who were now covered from head to toe in snow and couldn't see a thing.  Kaitlynne, Savannah, Lily, and Allie all climbed out of where they were hiding laughing at the image of the three boys covered in snow.

            "Nice one, Lily," Savannah said.

            "You should know not to mess with us because we always win," Allie smirked, walking right by them towards the girls' dorm to change into nicer clothes for the Christmas feast.

            Once the girls all left and James, Sirius, and Remus wiped off the snow and cleaned it all up using magic.  "I can't believe we were outsmarted by a bunch of girls!" Sirius cried.

            "Don't worry.  We'll get them back," James said, an idea forming in his head already.  "Tonight, the plan is going into action," he continued, as he described what he thought they should do.

*****

Later that evening….

            "Why, hello ladies.  How are you on this lovely Christmas evening?" James said with a gentleman voice to Lily, Savannah, Allie, and Kaitlynne.

            "Why, hello, jackass," Kaitlynne replied with a fake smile.

            "Now, there's no need to be nasty to a poor fellow like me."

            "Weren't you the one who hit us with water balloons?  Or is your memory that bad?" Allie asked.

            "Oh, I remember that, but don't you remember smothering us with snow?" he replied.

            "Oh, we certainly do remember that.  I don't remember the last time before that when I laughed so hard at three foolish-looking guys…although, I guess you get laughed at all the time," Lily snapped.

            "Could we please just go down to dinner without you or any of your friends bothering us?" Savannah sneered.

            "Good evening, Savannah!" a voice cried from behind her.

            "Too late," Savannah mumbled, turning around to face Sirius Black.  "How the hell did you know my name?"

            "I have my ways," he said with a wink.  "Now may I escort you down to the feast?"

            "No, but you can kiss my ass," she replied.  They girls all laughed, and, ignoring the guys, walked out of the Gryffindor House towards the Great Hall.  About two minutes later, they realized they were being followed by the jackasses, but ignored them and continued on. They got to the entrance and then Savannah, Allie, and Kaitlynne all walked in and before Lily knew what she was doing, James grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

            "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she cried, trying to pull away from him.

            "Look above you," he said, pointing up to where mistletoe was.

            Lily burst into laughter.  "Now if you actually think I'm going to let you kiss me, you really have to get your head examined.  In fact, just get your head examined no matter what you think."

            "No, you can't ruin the mistletoe tradition!" James insisted, gripping her arm tighter.

            "Watch me," she sneered, trying to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong.

            "I'm watching, but you're not going anywhere," he said with a grin on his face.

            "Oh my God, you planned this didn't you," Lily said disgustedly.

            "Now, what makes you say that?" James said innocently.

            "You are such a bastard!  Now get your arm off of me before I embarrass you in front of everyone," Lily sneered.

            "Yeah, right.  I doubt that's going to happen," James said rolling his eyes.

            "Oh, really?" she said, getting a mischievous grin on her face.  "NO, I WILL NOT HAVE SEX WITH YOU, JAMES POTTER!" Lily cried before plunging her knee into a…er…non-favorable spot of James' who was already red of humiliation and was now bending over in uncontrollable pain.  All the students there were in a fit of laughter, including Sirius and Remus who were trying to stop and Kaitlynne, Allie, and Savannah were holding their sides, with tears running down the sides of their faces and were practically rolling on the floor in high-pitched laughter.

            Lily walked over to her friends, pretending like nothing happened recognizing the fact that everyone was looking at her, still laughing.  She took a seat at the table and innocently asked, "So, when's dinner?"    

            "Hey, how about later, you come up to my room…and we do the opposite of what James and Lily are doing," Josh Matthews said to Allie from behind her.

            Allie groaned.  "Get lost, loser.  I wouldn't be caught dead in your room in a million years and if you ever come near us again I might have to see to it that you, too, are humiliated."

            "Awww, it's nice to know you care," he responded.

            "I don't care, and I never will," she snapped, as he turned his back on her and walked away.

            "Why are guys such assholes?" she wondered.

            "Oh, you love us, you just don't know it," Sirius said, sitting directly next to Savannah.

            "Oh, that's funny, because the last time I checked I didn't," Kaitlynne said from the other side of Savannah.

            "Now, can't we all just be friends?" James asked with a silly Cheshire cat grin on his face.

            "Maybe in the next lifetime when you're a dung beetle or something," Lily answered, and all of the girls laughed.

            "Now, what makes you thinks I'm going to be a dung beetle in my next lifetime?"

            "Well, I heard that in the next lifetime, people become things that sorta resemble them already," she responded, and the girls laughed again.

            "Ohhhhh!!!  So…you'd just be dirt?" James said, before flashing a smile and walking to the other side with the rest of his friends.

            "UGH!!!  I hate him and I don't even know who the hell he is!" Lily cried.

~ ~ ~ ~ E N D   O F    F L A S H B A C K ~ ~ ~ ~

            "We have some great memories at Hogwarts," Lily said with a smile. 

            "Yeah, and you're going to get some great memories in California."

            "But they won't be with you guys."

            "They'll be with other people.  New friends, who you will like almost as much as you like me…I mean, us," Sirius said innocently, and they both laughed.

*~*~*~*~*

            The next night, the night they were all going to Le Soleil Levant, Lily was in her room getting ready when suddenly a snow-white owl flew into her bedroom and threw a letter on to her bed.  Lily went to retrieve it, hoping that it was from Kaitlynne.

HEY LILY!!

            Wow, I was not expecting a letter from you, but I'm sure glad you wrote me!!!  I'm so happy for you and James and for Savannah and Sirius.  And you're right.  They are meant for each other and I do hope that they end up getting married.  And same goes for you and James.  And I bet you two become even more in love, if that's possible, once you move to AmericaCalifornia is gorgeous!!  I know you'll love it!!  I lived there for about four months with my older cousin, Andy, working with Random House for Wizardry, but I'm moving out soon and am working for the London Ledger.  I just do the photographs, but it's awesome and the job is great!  Actually, I'm trying to find an apartment somewhere close to their headquarters, so if you have any suggestions just let me know!

            You mentioned me being engaged, but it didn't work out.  About a month before we were to be married, Jarod got a job in Columbia, and because my job was in Los Angeles, I couldn't move with him and we ended up realizing that we weren't meant for each other.  I'm fine though and we still talk, so we're okay.

            I'm so glad that at least a few of the original eight are still friends and I only wish that I could have kept in touch.  But, I am free tonight and I would be so thrilled to have dinner with the six of you!  I'm so excited and I can't wait to see you guys again after four years and hear what has been up with you!! 

            Well, like you said, if I wrote down everything I'd want to tell you, you'd be reading over five hundred pages, so I will just tell you and the rest of the group tonight!  I will see you then!

                                    Love you always,

                                                Kaitlynne Young    

            Lily laughed out loud, realizing that she'd be working where Kaitlynne worked, and maybe even at the same job.  Then she thought about trying to move in with Andy, who she vaguely remembered. He was a few years older than Kaitlynne and herself, and the last time she saw him, summer before fifth year, she remembered him being tall with blonde semi-spiked hair with an earring.  Actually, she remembered thinking that he was very good-looking and if he wasn't already dating someone, she'd be interested even though he wasn't a wizard.  Basically his whole family was, though, so he knew everything about magic.

            She suddenly thought to herself that maybe Kaitlynne could move in with Sirius, as well, and Lily smiled, realizing how funny the situation really was.

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