A/N:  Okay, so I lied a bit.  This one is not so interesting and it's not that long…wahh! But you do find out more about Sirius, Savannah, James, and Lily!  Not a whole lot!  Just a little bit more!  However, the next chapter coming up is pretty good!  I have to fix it up and change a few things, but after that it will soon be posted!  BE READY!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

MEMORIES

CHAPTER 16: Trouble in Paradise

Written by ByeByeBirdie

            "WATCH OUT!" James cried, as a snowball was suddenly smacked into Savannah's face.

            "I'm sorry, what was that, James?" Savannah said laughing.

            "Uh…I love you?" James said with an innocent grin.  Suddenly a pile of snow was clobbered over his head from the tree above.

            "Oops," Lily said from the tree.

            "HEY!!  Now I'm all wet!" he cried.

            "Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Snow makes you wet!?" Lily teased sarcastically.  "And all this time I thought it dried you off!"

            They all laughed and Lily was pushed out of the tree and landed smack down right in the snow.  "Oops?" Sirius mimicked.  He had climbed into the tree quietly from the balcony directly beside the tree, which was outside his room and pushed Lily out.

            Immediately, James pinned Lily down in the snow and started tickling her.

            "JAMES!!" Lily cried in between laughs.  "Not fair!"

            "Now why isn't this fair?" he said, still tickling her.

            "Because you're not ticklish!"

            "I find that perfectly fair."

            "Well, maybe you'll find this fair," Lily said turning James over and hitting him with a pile of snow.

            "Yeah…that ain't so fair," James said after he spat out the snow from his mouth. Lily laughed and got up and skipped away. James just looked at her go.

            "Pssst Lily, I got an idea," Savannah said from behind Lily. Allie and Kaitlynne were also with her.  Savannah whispered something in Lily's ear and they all grinned evilly.

            "Okay, we so have to get them good," Sirius was saying to Remus.

            "Well we've been out here for an hour and they're already pretty wet…" Remus said.

            "Ugh, you're too nice," Sirius teased. "It's alright to get your wife soaking wet…I mean I'm sure you make up for it in other ways…"

            Remus looked at him in shock and wrestled him to the ground.

            "You're just jealous," Remus teased.

            "Aha! So you admit it!" Sirius joked. Remus got off of him.

            "Get a life," Remus said with a laugh.

            "Get a room," Sirius teased, and they both laughed.

            "Alright…ready girls?" Savannah asked them quietly as she saw Peter and James walk over to Remus and Sirius.

            "Hell yeah," Allie said with a smirk.

            "One…two…THREE!" Lily yelled and then altogether, the four girls yelled, "ISLAMIO!!" and pointed their wands at the four boys.

            "AGHH!!!" The four boys screamed as a huge pile of snow fell on top of them. The girls fell on the floor laughing as hard as they could.

            "That's not fair," Sirius pouted.

            "We were supposed to get you this badly!" James exclaimed.

            "Baby Girl…how dare you do this to me," Remus accused Kaitlynne with a smile.

            "I was talked into it!" Kaitlynne said but she was laughing really hard. 

            "I don't think this was in the rule books," Peter explained.

            "I don't think there were any rule books," Savannah said to Peter.

            "I don't see what's not fair about it," Lily said with a laugh.

            "You guys do realize what they did right?" James said to his guy friends while smiling at Lily who was returning it.

            "Yeah…got us all wet!" Sirius exclaimed. James laughed.

            "Nooo…this is what they did when we first met," James said with a huge joyous grin.

            "Thought you'd never remember," Lily said.

            "That's right! We never did fully get you back," Sirius said. "And now we have to get you back even more." Just then Sirius whispered quickly in the other three guys' ears.

            "I don't like the fact that they are whispering," Savannah said to the girls.

            "Yeah and they're smiling evilly…" Lily said. "That's even worse."

            "GO!" Sirius shouted and before the girls knew what was happening the guys ran up to them and toppled them over and they ended up wrestling in the snow. Now can you imagine this…six adults rolling around in the snow…it was a pretty funny sight, but they didn't care. After fifteen minutes they all stopped and just talked, without bothering to move.  Even though it was cold, it was a beautiful day out and they took full advantage of that!

            "So…you know what else happened that day you piled snow on top of us?" James asked Lily quietly so no one else was listening.

            "Yeah…I kneed you in a place that should not be hit hard," Lily teased. James laughed.

            "Because I wanted to kiss you under the mistletoe," James said with a smile.

            "What's your point?" Lily said, confused as to what that had to do with anything.

            "I don't know…you guys were just reliving the memory so I was…uh, reminded of it," James said while glancing out of the corner of his eye to Lily.

            "What? You saying we should go find mistletoe and kiss under it like the very first time?" Lily asked with a laugh.

            "We didn't kiss," James said.

            "Okay, fine.  Should we go find mistletoe and not kiss under it?"

            They all laughed.

            "I didn't say any of that," James said. Neither one of them said anything while the other started conversations amongst themselves while Lily and James were just facing each other, not saying anything.

            "Okay now things are awkward," Lily finally admitted.

            "Yeah, well they shouldn't be!" James snapped and then realized what he did. "Oh, look Lily, I'm sorry. I was just say-"

            "Did you just snap at me?!" Lily exclaimed.

            "Uh…no…well, maybe…okay, yes I did, but I didn't mea-"

            "Why??  It's not my fault I'm stuck here with you," Lily snapped and then got up and started to walk away.

            "Lily, I didn't mean it like that!" James yelled after her. "I'm just upset that things are like this." Everyone else stopped their conversations to see what was happening.

            Lily turned around to face James, even though she was a few yards away. "Yeah? Well whose fault is that?" Lily sneered and then headed back to the house, angry that the moment had to be ruined.

            "Um…what happened?" Sirius asked.

            "Good question," James said with a sigh. After a few minutes, Sirius got up to go talk to Lily because he knew she was feeling lonely.

            "Knock, knock," Sirius said as he walked into Lily's room. She was lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling.

            "Hey Si," Lily sighed out.

            "There's like a hundred things to do in this house and you chose to stare at the ceiling?" Sirius teased. Lily gave him a small smile. Sirius went to sit down next to Lily.

            "I'm not mad at him," Lily said, sighing.

            "I know," Sirius said.

            "I'm not even upset," Lily said.

            "That I also know," Sirius said.

            "I don't know why I got so angry with him," Lily said.

            "I understand," Sirius said.

            "I'm glad we're friends and things aren't awkward," Lily said.

            "Yes I know, and we both know that you wish you weren't just friends," Sirius said.

            "You couldn't just stop at 'yes I know?'" Lily asked.

            Sirius chuckled. "Lily, you once loved him…that's impossible to get over," Sirius said.

            "I know," Lily said. "And I hate it."

            "We all do," Sirius said.

            "But I hate it most of all," she pointed out.

            "I know.  Unfortunately sometimes the things you want in life… " He sighed.  "…you can't have," Sirius commented, thinking about Savannah.

            "Yeah, I know. Unfortunately," Lily said with a sigh. "Hey, but enough about me," Lily said as she sat up. "I have a question for you."

            "Which is…?"

            "Why'd you give her the necklace?" Lily asked.

            "I…we…she…I…what necklace…to who?" Sirius asked.

            "You're not the only one who knows a few things."

            "How'd you know?"

            "I could tell.  You are the only person I know who would even think of giving Savannah a necklace like that."

            "She deserves it," he said with a sigh.  "Besides, it's not what you think.  I didn't buy it for her for this Christmas especially. I bought it for her a few days after graduation five years ago and was looking for the perfect time to give it to her.  That time never…well, it never really came.  I just decided to give it to her anonymously instead because she deserves to have it even if I can't have her.  I saw it years ago and I knew it was made just for her. I didn't want to make a big deal about it so I just didn't say whom it was from. I just think that her and that necklace belong together."

            "Just like you think her and you belong together?" Lily asked, falling back on to the bed to stare up at the ceiling.

            "That has nothing to do with the necklace."

            "Maybe not…but it has everything to do with what you think."

            Sirius sighed and flopped on the bed beside Lily, looking up at the ceiling.  "It doesn't matter what I think.  It's what she thinks."

            "Actually, it's not about what anyone thinks," Lily contradicted.  "It's just about you.  Period."

            Sirius sighed again.  "She forgave me last night for what I did at the reunion."

            Lily abruptly sat up.  "You're kidding!"

            He shook his head, still staring at the ceiling. "Nope.  It amazed me, too. I just don't understand how she could forgive me for what I did. But it felt good to hear her say that she forgave me."

            "It just would have felt better if she wanted to get back together with you?" Lily suggested.

            Sirius sighed again.  "You know everything."

            "No, it's just because you and I can easily relate."

            "Yeah…and it sucks."

            "I'm so sorry, Si," Lily said, really meaning it. She turned Sirius over on to his front, and sat on his back and started to give him a back massage.

            "It hurts," Sirius said, so quietly that Lily could barely understand him.  Luckily, she knew how he felt so it wasn't a problem to imagine what he had said.  "There's no way I could ever love a woman more than her.  In fact, I know it's not possible.  Unfortunately for me, she's with Daniel now and I can't do anything about that."

            Lily started getting teary-eyed, feeling sorry for Sirius…and a little sorry for herself, also.  "This is beyond pathetic.  Here we are, two great people with excellent personalities…single."

            Sirius turned over to face Lily and they both looked at each other sympathetically for a few seconds.  "I know," he said breathlessly.  He grabbed her and brought her close to his body and kissed her forehead like a best friend would.  "Life sucks, doesn't it," he stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

            Sirius tried to ignore his tear-soaked sweater as Lily answered with, "Especially when you're single."

            "I'm trying to make the best out of this Christmas but the only thing that's even remotely fun about it…is seeing you again."

            Lily smiled for once.  "Just me?"

            "I saw the others on Allie's birthday.  I haven't seen you since the wedding.  And in a way, I've needed you.  You're the only one who truly understands me.  You can relate to me and I've needed that.  Since Savannah ran off with that scum-bag, I haven't had anyone to talk to.  I don't know…I guess it sounds crazy, but I'm just tired of people coming up to me and telling me that they know how I feel.  Because they don't.  I'm just tired of people feeling sorry for myself."

            "Aww…well, I'm always here.  And it's good to know I'm loved by someone."

            "You're loved by a lot of people."

            "They don't show it very well," Lily said, thinking of James.

            Sirius squeezed Lily's shoulder and kissed her forehead again.  "Why are you so adorable?"

            Lily laughed.  She realized it felt good to laugh.  "Because I'm with you," she replied in total seriousness.

            "Okay, that's it," Sirius said with a grin.  "Next holiday is a holiday for only me and you.  That's the only thing I need right now."

            Lily laughed.  "That's your birthday, and I don't think the rest of the group is going to forget your birthday."

            He groaned.  "Please don't throw a surprise party for me like last year.  I think I still have a major hangover from then."

            Lily threw back her head and laughed.  "I have to admit that you're pretty damn funny when you're totally, inaccessibly drunk."

            Sirius had to laugh.  "Okay, doing a pole dance and a striptease is not my idea of being normal."

            "I know…that's why it was funny."

            Sirius laughed.  "You're lucky you weren't Savannah.  She was the one I gave the striptease to."

            "Oh, but I think she enjoyed that," Lily said with a laugh.

            "Yeah…I think those days are over," he answered quietly, and Lily gave him a tiny hug.

            They both sighed, realizing that those days were over.  The only striptease they'd be giving would be in their dreams to a stranger.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

            "Oh my gosh, that's beyond beautiful," James was saying to Savannah about her necklace. Everyone was lying in front of the fire late that Christmas night and the girls brought up the necklace and made Savannah wear it to show it off to the guys.

            "That must have cost a fortune," Remus said in awe.

            "God, somebody loves you," Peter was saying.

            "It makes you look sooo beautiful and right now you're just sitting here in sweatpants and a sweatshirt," Allie commented.

            "Who's it from?" James asked.

            "That's the problem…" Savannah said. "I don't have any idea who it's from."

            "No name? No card? No nothing?" Remus asked.

            "Nada," Kaitlynne informed him.

            "Why would someone give you such an expensive beautiful piece of jewelry and not tell you who it's from?" James wondered.

            "Maybe it's not that expensive. Maybe it's fake or something," Savannah said with a shrug.

            "Oh no, that is definitely real," Lily cut in.  Sirius kept quiet this whole time just looking at Savannah, trying hard to look someplace else.

            "I'll be right back," Sirius finally said, finding it almost impossible to sit there with Savannah.  It was too hard seeing her with the necklace and remembering that even though it was from him, he wasn't Savannah's boyfriend anymore.

            "Sirius, wait up," James said, following him into the kitchen. "What's up with you?  You seem to have been really distant this whole vacation and not very talkative…which isn't like you at all."

            "Hey, Sirius Black doesn't always have to be talkative," Sirius teased.

            "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black?"

            "Oh, I'm Elmo and I threw him over a cliff."

            "Sirius…" James warned.

            "You mean Elmo, right?"

            "SIRIUS!" James scolded.

            "James!" Sirius cried back.

            "Sirius, stop it and tell me what's going on."

            Sirius sighed.  "I'm sorry, James.  I'm just not too great at the whole, er…male-bonding stuff."

            "I'm not saying we have to bond.  I just want to know what's going on," James teased, and added a laugh.

            Sirius sighed.  "I hate it...that's all."

            "Hate what?"

            "Seeing Savannah."

            James paused before saying anything.  "Oh.  I've tried to steer clear of that topic of conversation…  Listen, just try to make the best out of everything."

            "Prongs, it's different for me than it is for you.  My ex-girlfriend, the girl I'm head-over-heels in love with is dating some other guy.  At least you still have somewhat of a chance with Lily."

            James winced, not wanting to hear that.  "I lost any chance I had with her last year."

            "I always had the perfect life plan all figured out.  Unfortunately, sometimes life doesn't go along with the plan you make for it," Sirius remarked.

            "Unfortunately, not much does go along with whatever the original plan was," James sighed.

            Sirius sighed.  "Life sucks."

            "Not all of it.  Think about it.  You've got amazing friends in the other room waiting to be with you.  So why don't we go back in there and play a game of Truth-and-Dare with them?"

            Sirius groaned.  "Is that what they're doing now?"

            James laughed.  "Yep, so get your butt back in there." 

            They both laughed as they sauntered back into the huge living room.  Remus and Kaitlynne were cuddled up in each other's arms under a blanket in a love-seat, Lily was sprawled out on the floor directly in front of the fire, Savannah was sitting in the chair next to the fire, and Peter and Allie were sitting on the couch together.  James scooted on to the couch next to Allie, and Sirius grabbed a pillow and set himself on to the floor next to Lily.

            "What about favorite Hogwarts memory?" Kaitlynne asked.

            "That's easy: graduation," Allie, Peter, and Remus all answered simultaneously.

            Sirius' eyes wandered over to where Savannah sat, and he was surprised to see that she was staring at him.  They knew they were both thinking of the time Sirius took Savannah up to the Astronomy Tower where a picnic was set up with candles and the ceiling was enchanted with stars and that's where Sirius and Savannah first kissed.

            James and Lily looked at each other and remembered when Snape pushed Lily into the lake during their fourth year and James went in after her, when they still hated each other.  They both got out, soaking wet, and that's when they realized that they never hated each other but that they've always had feeling for each other. James kissed her and asked her out right there on the spot just as the rain started to pour down in sheets, getting them even more wet.

            "Graduation," Sirius lied.

            "Graduation," James lied.

            "Graduation," Lily lied.

            Savannah sighed, not taking her eye of Sirius as everyone else watched her carefully.  "Um…Graduation," she lied. 

            "Okay, favorite out-of-Hogwarts memory," Peter said, breaking the following awkward tension.

            "The summer after graduation when we all went to Bermuda," Allie answered.

            "Our wedding," Remus and Kaitlynne said, as Remus kissed Kaitlynne on the cheek.

            "Sirius' surprise party last year when Sirius got totally smashed and did the pole dance and the striptease," Savannah said and Sirius and Lily exchanged looks and laughed, remembering that they were talking about that earlier that morning.  Everyone else laughed as well.

            "Bermuda," Sirius replied.

            Lily looked over at James who was looking at her, both remembering the time he showed up at her house on June 1 three years earlier kissing her once again.

            "Bermuda," Lily lied.

            James looked over Lily with a yearning inside.  "…Bermuda," James lied.

            "Okay…uh…out of the eight of us, most likely to end up seventy with a realization that they lived a perfect life.  Basically, most likely to succeed," Remus said.

            "Lily," Savannah, Kaitlynne, Sirius, James, Peter, and Allie said immediately after Remus spoke and Lily blushed.

            "What?  Why me?"

            "Oh, come on.  You have a job at Random House for Wizardry now, the Daily Prophet headquarters in San Diego is asking for you and the San Francisco Prophet is offering you a job as assistant director!!  All three jobs are journalism and all three jobs are perfect for you," Savannah pointed out.

            "And this is what you've wanted to do for the past ten years!!  And you've already got it," Sirius finished.

            "But what about James?  He's an Auror at the office of Sir Sephilia and that's what he's always wanted to do," Lily pointed out.

            They all turned to James.  "Hey, that's right," Kaitlynne said.

            "She's got a point," Savannah said.

            "Yeah, but I've got one set job and you've got three excellent jobs lined up!" James cried.

            "Okay, okay.  So let's just say you both will end up being most successful," Allie said with a laugh.

            "Okay…stupidest thing you've ever done," Peter said.

            The time I became a little too jealous…James thought.  "Becoming friends with you guys," he said instead and they all laughed.  "No, it was probably the time that I put Veritaserum Potion in Sirius' drink," he admitted.

            They all laughed.  "I hated you for two weeks when you did that," Sirius said shaking his head with a grin.

            "Hey, it was all good.  You and Savannah got together because of it," Remus pointed out and they all nodded in agreement.  "Well, I would have to say the time I didn't buy that house in Slazenger's Borough," Remus said.  "It would be a nice place to live now."

            Kaitlynne grinned up at him.  "Okay…hmm, probably the time that I was stupid enough to believe Sirius when he said that Frederick Gable was still in love with me during our seventh year."

            They all laughed, remembering the time when she went up to him and revealed her feelings for him and he said that he loved another girl. 

            "The time I went out with Snape for a week," Allie said with an annoyed face.

            "Yuck," Savannah said with a shudder, and everyone agreed.  "Okay, um…driving my sister's car into a tree."  They all laughed.

            "Turning Sirius into a frog…without knowing the countercurse," Lily admitted.  They all cracked up, remembering the time on the Hogwarts Express leaving Hogwarts after their first year.

            "Um…oh!!  Everything," Sirius said, and they all laughed.  "No…the time I told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow and he found out about Remus," Sirius said uncomfortably.

            "Yeah, I would have to say Sirius tops us all off," Lily said with a sympathetic smile.

            "Which isn't so great in the topic of stupidity," James teased, with a hearty laugh.

            "Okay…the next person to get married," Allie asked looking at Peter, James, Savannah, Sirius, and Lily.

            "Savannah," James, Kaitlynne, Lily, and Peter answered.

            "Lily," Sirius, Remus, and Savannah answered.

            They all laughed at the different answers.  "Okay, so maybe they'll both get married on the same day," Allie cried, and they all laughed.

            "You guys, this has been one of the best Christmas' ever.  I'm just glad that we could all get together.  The eight of us, I mean," Lily commented.

            "Yeah, thanks, Allie," Remus interjected.

            "I'm glad I did it, too.  We have to do this at least once a year," she said.

            "Sounds good," Savannah agreed.

A/N: Okay, another chapter done!  Okay, I just wanted to clear things up: Sirius and Lily will NEVER get together…EVER!  I'm just pointing out that their situation is very similar and they've bonded because of it!  Yay!  Anywho (I'm making that a word!  Just say it—it sounds cool!), the next chapter is simply a filler chapter…except that the end brings a very shocking surprise!  Some of you may hate me for it, but hey, I just go with what comes to me!  Trust me, the next chapter is very important to the whole story, so I'll try to get it posted ASAP!

Please review and I'll be happy                                                                                                                                                                                                    Please review and I'll be happy                                                                                                                                                                                                  Review, and I'll mention your name in the next chapter                                                                                                                                                                         Please review and I'll love you!!!!

(Tune to 'Happy Birthday' hehe!)