A/N: Yes, I'm back.  Okay, so the beginning of this chapter may seem off-topic and strange, but don't skip to the next chapter!!!!!  The end is very important and I'm not even putting down the beginning.  I'm telling you—keep reading!  I know that nothing much has happened in the past couple of chapters, but these next few chapters will be VERY exciting!  Things start happening—things they never thought COULD happen!  Uh-oh… 

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

MEMORIES

CHAPTER 17: Sirius' Birthday Suit

Written by ByeByeBirdie

            Sirius' birthday came and went.  Again, they threw him a surprise party, but this time Sirius didn't get as drunk, yet he still had fun.  They all had fun.  Unfortunately, Sirius couldn't help but think that it would a whole lot more fun if he and Savannah were still dating.

            And later that night Sirius did what he said he'd do.  He and Lily hung out, just them, in Hogsmeade playing pool and drinking butterbeer and hanging out with Rosmerta for a bit and Lily stayed at his house (her old house!) for the rest of the weekend.

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

            "Okay, I swear I never would have done that if I wasn't this drunk," Lily cried, giggling.

            "But Lily, you have played Strip Poker before," Sirius reminded.

            "Yeah, because I wanted to humiliate James," Lily said with a grin.

            "Yeah, but instead you ended up getting back together with him," Sirius grinned.

            "That sure was an interesting day," Lily said with a sad look on her face, remembering her youth with James.

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

"I fold," Sirius sighed.

            "Oh, I'm totally in," Savannah said. 

            "Okay, place your bet," Sirius grinned, at the age of eighteen, wearing just an undershirt, his boxers and no socks or shoes.

            Savannah looked down at her half-naked self, at the age of seventeen, just wearing a shirt, both socks and her underpants.  "I'll say my shirt," she said playfully.

            "What!?!?" Lily cried in absolute disgust.

            "What!?" Remus, James, and Sirius all cried with disbelief.

            "You heard me.  I know I'll win, so I'll take off my shirt…no, in fact, I'll strip everything off if I lose," she said mischievously.

            "Are you serious!?" Lily cried in absolute shock.  Lily was in a lacy black bra, her jeans, and a sock.  She had lost a dare in the middle of the game, given to her by James, and was forced to take off her shirt or else she never would have taken off her shirt.

            "Everything!?" Sirius cried, enjoying every minute of this.

            "Oh, it's not like you haven't seen it," James muttered, and everyone else laughed.

            Sirius and Savannah glared at him.  "That's personal information, thank you," Sirius scoffed.

            "That's a yes," Remus said with a grin.  Remus was practically fully clothed, with shorts (and boxers!) an undershirt and both of his socks.

            Sirius threw a pillow at him.

            "Can we get on with the game?" James asked impatiently, just waiting to get Lily back, considering he lost almost every single time against her and was just wearing his boxers and a sock.  He was close to getting her back and he was willing to do anything.

            "Well, what about you, James?" Sirius asked.

            "I fold," James said.  "I don't think I can afford to lose anything else," he finished, glaring at his ex-girlfriend, meaning Lily.

            "Oops," she said with an innocent smile.  She looked down at her hand, but she really didn't want to lose anything.  She refused to let James see her with her bra and her panties.  Luckily, she wasn't dumb enough to fall for his charming act and refused to let him ever see her naked.  Which was good, because two months earlier, Lily had found James kissing Charlotte Gilmore in his bedroom and was glad she wasn't the one in his bed with him. 

            She sighed and threw down her cards.  If Savannah had that good of a hand, Lily wasn't about to strip down anymore.  "I fold, I guess."

            "Remus?" Savannah questioned.

            "Hmm…shorts, I guess.  We'll make it a bit more interesting," he said with a grin.

            "Will you strip down if you lose??" Lily joked.

            "No way," he replied immediately with a laugh.

            "What do you got?" Sirius asked giddily.

            "Four of a kind…Kings," Remus said with a very joyous smile on his face.

            Savannah's head snapped up and stared at him.  "What did you say?" she asked, burning an evil glare into the middle of his forehead.

            "Uh…Four of a kind of Kings?" he repeated, getting a little scared.

            "NOOOOOOOO!" Savannah shouted, throwing her cards into the air and pounding her fists into the ground before covering her horror-stricken face with the palms of her hands.

            James immediately jumped for the cards and showed them off.  "Oooh, four of a kind…Queens," James said with a smirk.  "So close."

            "My girlfriend's getting naked!  My girlfriend's getting naked!" Sirius sang happily, jumping up and down and dancing around the room.  Suddenly he stopped and looked at the group.  "Wait, why is this a good thing again?"

            Lily laughed and James rolled his eyes. 

            "Because you're a guy and you didn't realize that everyone else would see her naked, as well," Remus pointed out.

            Savannah still sat on the floor moaning and complaining to herself.

            "I'm such an idiot," she muttered under her breath and into the carpet.  "Why did I have to do that?" she complained.

            "Is someone feeling a little stupid for betting everything?" Remus teased,

            "Big-time," Savannah muttered.

            Suddenly there was a knock on the door.  "Hello?  Why is the door locked??" a voice cried form the outside.

            The two guys and the two girls stared at each other with troubled looks.  "Uh-oh," Sirius muttered.

            "Alohomora!" a girly voice cried a second later and instantly, Kaitlynne and Allie walked in with a bunch of books in their hands.

            Kaitlynne dropped a book on Remus' head.

            "What the…" Allie trailed off.

            "Why, hello," Remus said, pretending as if nothing was wrong.  "You're just in time."

            "I'm afraid to know what of…" Kaitlynne muttered.

            "Savannah was just about to strip down naked," Lily informed.

            Allie dropped a book on Sirius' head.

            "WHAT!?  No way!!  Not in my room, she's not!  All of you, get out," Kaitlynne said firmly.

            "Yes, mother," Sirius said sarcastically.

            "I don't think that's entirely fair.  We haven't finished the game yet!" Remus whined.

            "Yes, but my friend is not going to embarrass herself in front of a bunch of sexist guys," Kaitlynne said with a laugh.

            "YES!  Thank you, Kaitlynne!!!" Savannah cried, and everyone laughed.

            "And will the rest of you, oh-so-kindly, put your clothes back on??" Allie asked in disgust.

            "But the round hasn't finished," James pointed out.

            "Oh, well.  Too bad," Sirius said, not feeling sorry at all.

            James rolled his eyed.  "Just because you don't want to see your girlfriend naked, Sirius, doesn't mean the rest of us don't," James teased.

            Sirius threw a pillow at him.

            "The rest of us don't," Lily snapped.

            "Some do," James said with a grin.

            Savannah threw a pillow at him.

            "You know what?  You remind me of something," Lily said familiarly to James. 

            "I don't-"

            "Oh, that's right!  You look and act and even sound like a pig!!" Lily sneered.  "No wonder all of the muggle radios are warning us about the runaway pigs."

            "Look I was joking!" James exclaimed.

            "Yeah, but you still act like a pig."

            James glared at her.  "Yeah, well at least I know more about women than you do," he snapped.

            "You may know more about a woman's diaphragm, but I know more about a woman's intelligence."

            "And ironically, you don't have any."

            "FYI, I am Head Girl because I am the top of my class! I-"

            "I thought you were Head Girl because Ass Girl was already taken," James snapped.

            Lily glared at him, and ignored his rude comment.  "As I was saying,, I didn't get it by sucking up and acting smart…I mean, smart-assed."

             "We're not talking about Snape, Evans, we're talking about you."

            "And I'm talking about you!"

            "You don't know anything about me!"

            "No, you see, that's the problem!!" Lily screamed.  "I know everything about you and I wish I didn't!!!  I think my life would be a hell of a lot easier if I had never even met you, James Potter!!!"

            James stared at her incredulously, not believing that Lily had just said that.  Even though he was mad that Lily didn't trust him at all and he was mad at himself for getting drunk and kissing the Charlotte girl, he still loved Lily and it hurt to hear her say that.  He didn't know what he'd do without Lily.  But he wasn't about to admit that.

            "Fine, if that's the way you want it, don't talk to me ever again.  See if I give a fucking damn, Evans," James said quivering a little, showing a hint of suffering in his shaky voice.  And with that he stomped out of the room, with no clothes on, as everyone else stared at Lily matter-of-factly.

            Lily sighed, and without saying anything else to anyone else, she followed him out throwing on a sweatshirt over her bra wearing, and followed him down towards the commons room.  Then she followed him up to his dormitory and knocked on the door that was slammed in her face two seconds earlier.

            "Go away," he said angrily."

            She knocked more forcefully now.

            "I said go away," he said.

            Lily didn't listen and instead, opened the door and saw him lying down on his bed.

            "Leave me alone," he repeated.

            Lily sat down on the edge of his bed.  "James, I'm sorry," she spat out, realizing how hard that was.

            "No you're not," he argued.

            "Yes, I am," Lily said firmly.  "My life may have been easier without you…but it wouldn't have been better.  In fact, it probably would have been boring.  If I had to choose one person to get to know the closest, I would choose you in a heartbeat."

            "Why?" he asked, turning around and facing her.

            "Because you're the James Potter," Lily said with a smile.  "You're Head Boy, the Quidditch Captain, the Gryffindor seeker, a Marauder, second smartest in the whole school, and named most popular in the whole school three years in a row.  I may already know a lot about you, but you don't give yourself much credit!  I'd like to figure out why.  And besides all of that, you're funny, you're smart, you're sweet, you're sexy, and you're everything a girl could ever want."

            James looked her directly in the eye and lingered there for a second.  He knew it was all true, but… "You mean, everything…every other girl wants."

            Lily looked down at the floor to think about his reply and then looked back up into his eyes.  "No…you're everything any girl could ever want," she whispered.

            James felt as if she was leaning in closer, and his heart raced a little as he tried to sooth himself.  "Then why do you hate me?" he dared to ask.

            Lily sharply turned her head towards him.  "I don't hate you," she protested.

            "Then you won't hate me when I do this," James whispered slowly and gently, as he put his hand underneath Lily's chin and tilted it down towards his and leaned in to kiss her.  He was about half an inch away when he looked up into Lily's eyes, which were filled with desire and anxiety.  He lingered there for a second, before placing his lips on top of hers and he felt his heart pounding inside off his body and felt the blood rush to his head.

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

             "But that Strip Poker was different," Lily protested.  "Tonight I was playing with a bunch of people I didn't even know!  Wasn't exactly my idea of fun," she joked.

            Sirius laughed.  "Yeah, but you won anyway.  I was the one who ended up wearing only his boxers!"

            "Okay, that was pretty funny, I must admit," Lily grinned.

            "Weren't you just saying how much it wasn't fun?"

            Lily threw a piece of bread at him.

            "Hey, I have something tell you," Sirius said with sincerity.

            "Okay."

            "I think I'm in love with you."

            "WHAT!?"

            "No, just kidding, but-" Sirius joked.

            "SIRIUS!" Lily cried, laughing, as she slapped him with her purse a few hundred times.

            "Ow."  Slap on arm. "Ow." Slap on arm. "Ow." Slap on arm. "Ow." Slap on face. "OUCH!!"

            Lily laughed.

            "No, actually, I just wanted to say thank you.  This has been a great birthday.  I'm not completely smashed, which is a good thing, and I'm still having tons of fun.  The surprise party was great, the pool was fun, the club was great, the dancing was great-"

            "And you even professed your love for me," Lily joked.  "All in all, it's been great!!"

            Sirius laughed.

            "You're welcome, by the way," Lily added.

            "Honestly, I haven't thought about you-know-who since we left my house," Sirius said.  "I've had such a great time tonight with you and I hope that we won't go off to work our separate ways and wait a few months to see or talk to each other again."

            Lily smiled.  "I won't let that happen."

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

            Valentine's Day came and went.  Of course, Lily, Savannah, James, and Sirius buried themselves in their work trying to forget about it.  Remus took Kaitlynne on a cruise for Valentine's and her birthday since her birthday was February 12.  Allie and Josh had an coughcough eventful day J.  Let's just say that Allie announced she was pregnant a few weeks later. 

            And then came March.  A month that ended up destroying friendships more…and bringing others closer.

            Knock, knock.  Lily was sitting in the living room surrounded by research books and a beer bottle off to the side wearing sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt at eleven o'clock at night when she heard the knock at her door.  She sighed, and slowly dragged her half-asleep self towards the door.  She thought it might be Andy at first, but wondered why he'd be knocking.

            She opened it and Savannah was standing there with a worried look on her face.  "Savannah!" Lily squealed, giving her a hug.  "What are you doing here?"

            Savannah sighed and looked at the ground.  "I need to tell you something very important…I just don't know how."

            Lily gave her a nervous and worried look.  "What's wrong?"

            "Nothing's wrong…I don't think.  I'm not sure."

            "What is it, Savannah?"

            "Lily, I'm…" she started with a troubled expression on her face.  "Well, it's like this…I'm…uh…I-I'm…I…I'm…well…I'm…"

            "Yes, I got the 'I'm' part.  Spit out the rest," Lily said with a distressed look on her face.

            "I-I'm p-pregnant," Savannah said slowly and very quietly.

A/N: CLIFFHANGER!!!  …kinda.  Omigod, what's going to happen next!?!  This is where it gets really exciting.  The next group of chapters are very shocking and upsetting.   Warning ahead of time: there will be tears—multiple tears!  Endless bawling, perhaps.  You will find yourselves asking me why and a bunch of you will prolly flame me—DON'T!  You will hate me, but don't blame NOR FLAME me!   Don't flame me until you read on—I know that this isn't how most of you wanted it to work out.  Hell, it wasn't even what I wanted to work out.  But these things come to me and I can't ignore them!  Some things just have to happen—that's just the way it is.  Trust me—this story is my fave so far for multiple reasons and I won't ruin that for my readers.  Life is what life is.  You can't change that—and this is the life of the eight friends who once met at Hogwarts and have continued on with their journeys to self-discovery. 

Understand this—the next BUNCH of chapters are going to be filled with excitement and shocking discoveries for all of them.  I advise you to quickly read on!   (that is—as soon as I post it….hehe.)